Dominic's Take
Dominic’s Take: The Asia Pacific Needs Cooperation Now More Than Ever
Earlier this month, more than 1,000 heads of state, public officials and business leaders gathered at APEC Peru 2024, the annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, to discuss the region’s most pressing obstacles and opportunities.
Dominic and his fellow ABAC members at APEC Peru 2024.
(Photo courtesy of the APEC Business Adivsory Council)
The global economy is experiencing a slow and steady recovery, but faces ongoing challenges such as persistent inflation, rising interest rates, and the critical need to boost investment for a climate-resilient future. Decisive actions are required to ensure robust growth in the United States and other countries in the Asia Pacific, where people, businesses and governments must collaborate on hot-button issues. Any action must rest on regional cooperation between the United States and other economies in the region.
During the past three years, I have seen the power of collaboration firsthand as Chair and Co-Chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). It has been an honor to work with representatives from the 21 APEC member economies, which include the United States, Canada and Mexico, and accounts for about three billion people, 47% of all global trade, and 60% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product.
Dominic at the ABAC press conference at APEC San Francisco 2023.
(Photo by East West Bank)
I was appointed to represent the United States in ABAC and advise APEC region leaders on policies and programs that could help their economies grow. Just like East West Bank has helped our customers reach further and connect to new opportunities, my ABAC service has been a platform to discuss policy recommendations that promote trade and investment, and lead to sustainable, inclusive growth—in Southern California, across America, and throughout the Asia Pacific. To that end, I have participated in more than 150 meetings with global leaders since my ABAC appointment.
APEC leaders in Peru 2024
How do we ensure a brighter future? The APEC Leaders Dialogue with ABAC showed how to advance cooperation between public- and private-sector constituencies. At APEC Peru 2024, ABAC members presented key recommendations and policy priorities on the most critical economic issues in the Asia Pacific.
Drawing on my experience in ABAC during the past three years, APEC economies can take several steps. First and foremost, sustainable economic growth can be enhanced through economic inclusion. This means micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)—including those led by women and Indigenous entrepreneurs—participating equitably in the economy. There are more than 38 million MSMEs in the Asia Pacific, accounting for an estimated 96.6% of all enterprises, 55.8% of the workforce, and 28% of economic output on average.
Bridging the gap for women entrepreneurs
APEC policymakers are tasked with developing sound policies that enhance economic inclusion, such as improving access to capital for MSMEs. At East West Bank, we’ve long been committed to supporting those who might struggle to secure business financing, including minority and women entrepreneurs. Our partnership with Grameen America aims to bridge the gap for financially underserved women entrepreneurs through micro-lending, training and mentoring. Since the program’s inception in 2019, the Bank has disbursed more than 50,000 loans to empower female innovators, while providing seed funding for Grameen America to launch branches in California and Texas.
Dominic at a ribbon-cutting for a Grameen America branch.
(Photo by East West Bank)
Investing in minority women entrepreneurs has yielded remarkable returns, in addition to supporting the financially underserved. Grameen America reports a loan repayment rate of 99%, and the organization has provided more than $4 billion in affordable capital to more than 200,000 women entrepreneurs across 27 U.S. cities.
Worldwide, women-owned businesses comprise 28% of business establishments, and yet the World Bank estimates that the global MSME finance gap for women is $1.7 trillion. By prioritizing investments in women entrepreneurs, we can add $10 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
ABAC tools to increase MSME resiliency
Mitigating risk is another priority for MSMEs and the policymakers that support them. One of ABAC’s accomplishments in recent years was the release of an MSME Supply Chain Resilience Toolkit, consisting of five dimensions—Flexibility, Visibility, Connectivity, Robustness and Redundancy—and 27 indicators on which resilience can be measured at the firm level. The toolkit allows businesses to better assess their operational strength and potential vulnerability.
APEC-led Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific blueprint
Support for the business community also means supporting trade. We can only achieve widespread prosperity if our economic systems are designed to work well for everyone. For instance, the APEC-led Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) is a viable blueprint to build both from the top down—with high-quality trade agreements—and from the bottom up, with practical initiatives for MSMEs. The eventual FTAAP—a concept initially proposed by ABAC in 2004—can bring the 21 APEC economies closer together than ever before.
ABAC partnerships and cooperation for sustainable economic growth
Throughout my ABAC tenure, leaders didn’t just preach cooperation; we practiced it. We sought partnerships with other organizations that shared common goals, even signing a memorandum of understanding with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Business Advisory Council to collaborate on the issue of digitization.
When cooperation among APEC economies is strong, there is no limit to what we can achieve together, and my ABAC service has only made me more optimistic about the region’s future. We can empower, include and grow, ensuring sustainable economic growth for resilient development through innovation, inclusivity and interconnectedness. Working with the business community, APEC policymakers can support MSMEs for growth through trade and investment, gender equity, food security, anti-corruption efforts and more.
By supporting MSMEs through financing, advancing trade agreements like FTAAP, and practicing climate resilience, the APEC region can continue to make progress. APEC Peru 2024 was yet another step forward, but it was by no means the end of the story for the United States and the Asia Pacific writ large.
Dominic Ng is Chairman and CEO of East West Bank. Ng served as Chair of ABAC in 2023, and as Co-Chair in 2022 and 2024.