APEC Project Database

Project Title

Ease of Doing Business Capacity Building Workshop for Dealing with Permits - Reforming the Regulatory System for Construction Permits

Project Year

2010

Project Number

EC 02 2010A

Project Session

Session 1

Project Type

Standard

Project Status

Completed Project

Project No.

EC 02 2010A

Project Title

Ease of Doing Business Capacity Building Workshop for Dealing with Permits - Reforming the Regulatory System for Construction Permits

Project Status

Completed Project

Fund Account

APEC Support Fund

Sub-fund

ASF: General Fund

Project Year

2010

Project Session

Session 1

APEC Funding

82,000

Co-funding Amount

81,900

Total Project Value

163,900

Sponsoring Forum

Economic Committee (EC)

Topics

Structural Reform

Committee

Economic Committee (EC)

Other Fora Involved

Not Applicable / Other

Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved

Not Applicable

Proposing Economy(ies)

Singapore

Co-Sponsoring Economies

Korea; New Zealand; Japan; Chinese Taipei; Hong Kong, China

Expected Start Date

25/03/2010

Expected Completion Date

31/12/2011

Project Proponent Name 1

Tan Kok Kong

Job Title 1

Not Applicable

Organization 1

Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore

Telephone 1

+65 6332 7463

Email 1

tan_kok_kong@mti.gov.sg

Project Proponent Name 2

Not Applicable

Job Title 2

Not Applicable

Organization 2

Not Applicable

Telephone 2

Not Applicable

Email 2

Not Applicable

Declaration

Not Applicable

Project Summary

In 2009, APEC launched an Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) initiative, which takes as a starting basis the World Bank’s Doing Business report. Based on inputs from the business sector and member economies, five priority areas were identified from amongst the 10 areas covered by the World Bank’s report to help focus APEC’s efforts. The five areas deemed to pose the greatest regulatory barriers for businesses in the APEC region were: Starting a Business, Getting Credit, Trading Across Borders, Enforcing Contracts, and Dealing with Permits. Leaders and Ministers agreed for member economies to aspire to achieve a 25 per cent improvement in the APEC region in these five areas by 2015, with an interim target of a 5 per cent improvement by 2011.

To achieve these targets, six member economies stepped forward to champion capacity building efforts in these five areas, as well as to help monitor progress made by member economies in reforms. Capacity building will take place in two phases. Phase 1 will focus on experience sharing to raise awareness of successful reforms/systems in the Champion Economy or from the region from which member economies can learn. Phase 2 calls for customised and in-depth diagnostics for member economies that are keen and committed to embark on reforms. The diagnostics will help participating economies understand the concerns and constraints of their line agencies, and identify opportunities for regulatory reform in the priority areas. Based on customised action plans, participating economies will then be expected to follow up with concrete steps to reduce regulatory barriers in the selected priority area (or areas).

This project proposal is for the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in Singapore, in conjunction with other partner agencies involved in the regulatory process, to organise and host a 5-day workshop in Singapore in July 2010 on reforming the regulatory system for construction permits - Phase 1 of the EoDB capacity building work programme for Dealing with Permits.[1] The workshop will cater to about 30 to 50 participants, or at least 2 officials per economy, although economies are welcome to send more officials if they desire (subject to overall space and budget availability). The target audience for the workshop will be Directors, Heads of Department and other senior officers from relevant government line agencies in charge of regulating construction permits, and who can provide leadership to steer the reform process in their home economies. Economies that issue construction permits at the local government level will be encouraged to consider sending representatives from agencies in their major business cities as a first step. (The World Bank’s Doing Business rankings focus on the "major business city" in a given economy as a proxy for the rest of the economy.) Successful reforms pursued in this city can then set the example and be a source of motivation for other cities in the same economy to also reform. As we do not expect all economies to be able to send all the relevant officials at one go, BCA would be prepared to hold more workshops in subsequent years if there is sufficient demand.

The workshop aims to share with participants a detailed case study of Singapore’s own experience in re-engineering and reforming its regulatory system for construction permits. The case study will take a holistic look at the factors that contributed to Singapore’s success and share with participants key learning points. By drawing on Singapore’s experience, the workshop aims to illustrate to participants a framework for examining the potential for improvement in systems in their home economies, including in areas such as: the regulatory philosophy behind current processes; strategies to foster inter-agency collaboration; how the government sector worked with industry partners in pushing for reforms; strategies to help front-line agencies and industry users during the transition phase; and the use of information technology to modernise and integrate systems and reduce costs.

To complement reform ideas arising from the Singapore model, participants from economies that have implemented reforms in their permit issuance systems will be invited to share their perspectives on what has and has not worked, in line with the themes that are being explored in each session. Even the discussion of difficulties faced by participants in initial efforts at reform are useful sharing points as it will allow the participants to discuss these issues, learn from each other and also from Singapore’s specific experience in handling such difficulties. Under the Private Sector Development (PSD) Work Plan, SMEWG has proposed the production of a regulatory best practice guide that will include knowledge presented at earlier PSD EoDB workshops, and also draw on developments in the World Bank indicators and any new initiatives in participating economies. We are working with the SMEWG reps to make the relevant chapter on Dealing with Permits available to participants of this workshop as reference materials and indirectly encourage participants to draw on ideas arising from documented reforms or best practices in other APEC economies.

Participants will also be called on throughout the sessions to share on current practices in their own economies and highlight areas with potential for further improvement in their permit issuance systems and identify potential challenges to reform. The course instructors will also prompt the participants to think through some of the possible reforms that they could put in place in their own economies and discuss these with other participants. The participants will be prompted to look for simple reforms that are directly within their purview of authority before seeking more far-reaching but also more impactful reforms. This exchange will serve to spur each attending participant to take a critical look at their own regulatory system, and in so doing, realise the potential for further improvement and hence set their minds towards reforming their own system.

Finally, to garner interest for participation in Phase 2 of the EoDB Action Plan, participants will also be prompted throughout the sessions to consider whether they would want to sign up their economy for more in-depth diagnostics and reform assistance. If they are interested, Singapore can then follow up with them on their interest to see how best we could meet their needs. Even if they do not sign up immediately for Phase 2, an email-group could be formed from the participants and lecturers of the course to form an informal “mutual-support” network, so that simple follow-up questions that the participants may have, as they embark on small-scale reforms, could be answered within the group.

[1] Project organisers will consider potentially reducing the course duration from five to four days if there is strong feedback from potential participants seeking such a reduction due to budgetary constraints.

Relevance

This project is a direct follow-up to the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Action Plan that was launched at APEC Leaders’ Week in November 2009. This workshop will kick off Phase 1 of the capacity building work programme for Dealing with Permits, which is being championed by Singapore. The EoDB initiative was a key priority in 2009 and was discussed extensively at the Senior Official level throughout 2009 before being endorsed by Leaders and Ministers in the AELM and AMM statements. Instructions from Leaders and Ministers in direct support of this initiative are as follows:

· 17^th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) in Singapore in 2009: Leaders resolved to “accelerate our work to strengthen REI in the Asia-Pacific”, and to take a comprehensive approach that would include “improving the business environment ‘behind the border’.” Leaders committed their economies to “aspire to achieve an APEC-wide improvement of 25 percent in five key areas”, including Dealing with Permits, and to aim to achieve “a 5 percent improvement by 2011”. Leaders “welcomed the preparation of capacity building work programmes by champion economies”, and “encourage[d] continuous and concerted efforts through the Ease of Doing Business Action Plan to make it cheaper, faster and easier to do business in the Asia-Pacific.”

· 21^st APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Singapore in 2009: Ministers noted that the EoDB targets “represent tangible potential gains for businesses”, and noted the potential for the initiative to lead to the removal of on average “five procedures to obtain a construction permit” by 2015. Ministers “task[ed] officials to monitor and regularly review progress towards these targets”. Like Leaders, Ministers also “welcome[d] the capacity building work programmes led by ‘champion economies’”.

Efforts to build capacity for structural reforms in the region to improve the ease of doing business under the EoDB Action Plan, including the capacity building workshop mentioned in this proposal, supports the prioritisation by Leaders and Ministers of structural reform as an important element to sustaining economic growth since 2004:

· 12^th AELM in Santiago in 2004: Leaders acknowledged the value of structural reform “for achieving sustainable economic growth” by adopting the Leaders' Agenda to Implement Structural Reform (LAISR), and committed to “[f]oster understanding of the benefits of structural reform among APEC economies through…sharing of good practices”, as well as to “promote further capacity building, including for regulators”. LAISR identified regulatory reform as one of the prioritised areas for APEC work.

· 13^th AELM in Busan in 2005: The following year, Leaders welcomed the initiative to develop a Private Sector Development agenda for APEC to “create an enabling environment for small businesses”.

· 15^th AELM in Sydney in 2007: Leaders lent new emphasis to APEC’s structural reform agenda in 2007, and instructed Ministers to “give new momentum to work in APEC in support of structural economic reform in member economies”, that would help to promote continued economic growth and protect APEC economies against economic volatility via the promotion of “open, efficient, transparent and flexible economies”.

· 16^th AELM in Lima in 2008: Leaders reiterated the “fundamental importance of tackling ‘behind-the-border' barriers to trade and investment in the creation of well-performing, resilient and robust economies.”

Objectives

· Promote APEC economies’ awareness, especially amongst relevant practitioners, of successful reforms in the region, and to share knowledge on specific regulatory strategies and innovations that have effectively reduced the number of procedures, time taken and financial cost of issuing construction permits via a detailed case study of Singapore’s experience.

· Provide APEC economies with a framework with which they can analyse and benchmark their own permit issuance processes, to allow economies to identify areas for improvement and the potential challenges that will have to be overcome.

· Build interest and motivation amongst practitioners from relevant regulatory agencies to reform and improve existing permit issuance processes, by illustrating the feasibility of such reforms and the tangible outcomes that can be achieved, and in so doing, encourage economies to consider participating in Phase 2 of the “Dealing with Permits” initiative, which will provide them with customised diagnostic services that can help them design and implement reforms.

In the longer term, this project aims to build capacity for APEC economies to embark on reforms that can improve the efficiency with which construction permits are issued to businesses, an area that has been highlighted by the business community as an area that poses one of the most important regulatory impediments to business in the APEC region.

Alignment

Beneficiaries and Outputs

This project is expected to benefit the following:

· Policy-makers in APEC economies charged with reducing regulatory inefficiencies so as to facilitate business and investment, and those that can provide leadership in steering reforms towards more efficient permit issuance processes in particular, can gain a stronger understanding of effective approaches to reforms and will be better positioned to identify areas for improvement in their existing systems;

· Practitioners from relevant regulatory agencies in APEC economies responsible for processes related to the issuance of construction permits can gain from more efficient and streamlined procedures that can increase productivity;

· Local governments that have been charged with the responsibility for issuing construction permits can gain exposure to efforts towards reform in other APEC economies, and both be motivated by successful reforms and also acquire useful knowledge towards initiating and designing reforms in their own systems. Given that local governments might not have as many opportunities as line agencies in central governments for multilateral capacity building exchanges, this would be a good opportunity for APEC economies to use this workshop as a platform to reach out directly to local government practitioners, who might otherwise feel that calls for reforms from central authorities do not adequately address day-to-day operational challenges that they face. Central governments might also wish to consider subsidizing local government representatives for their participation where possible;

· Businesses, and especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), currently operating in the APEC region, which are obliged to apply for construction permits in the course of their business operations, as well as businesses which intend to enter markets in the region, can gain by reducing resources and costs required to acquire building permits. For example, a 25 per cent APEC-wide improvement on the EoDB indicator for Dealing with Permits by 2015 is estimated to reduce by US$4,500 the cost of obtaining a building permit, and at the same time making it six weeks faster to obtain the permit.

· APEC economies could benefit in terms of stronger economic growth, promoted by the creation of a more business-friendly APEC environment for investors through regulatory reforms.

The output of the project will be a five-day workshop on reforming the regulatory system for construction permits for an estimated 30 to 50 participants from APEC economies. Policy-makers and practitioners who can help to steer reforms in the issuance of construction permits will gain directly through increased knowledge of successful reform models, and gain skills to better identify areas for improvement in their existing systems and anticipate possible challenges to reform.

Planning

· Project overseers welcome views from EC members on the design of this workshop via this proposal submission.

· Project overseers will work with APEC member economies to ensure that participants – both men and women – that are most likely to benefit from the workshop and who are best-placed to disseminate knowledge gained and galvanise action towards reform in their home economies are nominated to attend the workshop.

· As the champion economy for “Dealing with Permits”, Singapore will also continue to exchange ideas and feedback on successful capacity building approaches with our fellow champion economies for the EoDB initiative – Hong Kong, China; Japan; Korea; US; and New Zealand – in planning for this project.

· ABAC’s 2009 survey identified (a) the number of procedures required to legally build a facility and (b) the time required to complete each procedure as the most important and urgent aspects that should be reformed by APEC economies with respect to Dealing with Permits. Project overseers will ensure that emphasis is placed on these two aspects during the workshop.

Implementation

· The target audience for the workshop is Directors, Heads of Department and other senior officers from relevant government agencies who may be involved in providing leadership to steer the reform process in their respective APEC economy. Active participants of the workshop will be expected to share perspectives from their economies, including on current practices and challenges faced, successful (and unsuccessful) experiences from their own attempts to implement reforms in their own systems, and to discuss approaches to reform with participants from other economies.

· To complement reform ideas arising from the Singapore model, participants from economies that have implemented reforms in their permit issuance systems will be invited to share their perspectives on what has and has not worked, in line with the themes that are being explored in each session. Even the discussion of difficulties faced by participants in initial efforts at reform are useful sharing points as it will allow the participants to discuss these issues, learn from each other and also from Singapore’s specific experience in handling such difficulties.

· Under the Private Sector Development (PSD) Work Plan, SMEWG has proposed the production of a regulatory best practice guide that will include knowledge presented at earlier PSD EoDB workshops, and also draw on developments in the World Bank indicators and any new initiatives in participating economies. We are working with the SMEWG representatives to make the relevant chapter on Dealing with Permits available to participants of this workshop as reference materials and encourage participants to draw on ideas arising from documented reforms or best practices in other APEC economies.

· Participants will also be called on throughout the sessions to share on current practices in their own economies and highlight areas with potential for further improvement in their permit issuance systems and identify potential challenges to reform. The course instructors will also prompt the participants to think through some of the possible reforms that they could put in place in their own economies and discuss these with other participants. The participants will be prompted to look for simple reforms that are directly within their purview of authority before seeking more far-reaching but also more impactful reforms. This exchange will serve to spur each attending participant to take a critical look at their own regulatory system, and in so doing, realise the potential for further improvement. This could set their minds towards reforming their systems and further participation in Phase 2 of the EoDB Action Plan.

· Upon their return to their home economies, participants are expected to help disseminate knowledge gained from the workshop and help to promote an interest in undertaking reforms in their own agencies and amongst their counterparts involved in issuing building permits. If there is follow-on interest from attendees of the first run to send more of their officers to attend this course, there could also be repeat runs of this workshop for their benefit – but APEC funding will be separately sought for the repeat runs.

· ABAC will be kept informed on this workshop. If there is sufficient interest expressed by ABAC in the workshop, project overseers will work with ABAC on the possibility of having an ABAC speaker address workshop participants to give a general business perspective on the kind of challenges which business encounter in this area, and in doing so, underline to regulators the need and utility of regulatory reform efforts.

Evaluation

· Evaluation surveys will be distributed to workshop participants to seek feedback on the effectiveness of the workshop and to gather views on how the capacity building programmes could be further improved in the future. Feedback would also be solicited on which aspect of Singapore’s experience would be most valuable for each economy, so that this information could be used to shape the content and nature of Phase 2 of the EoDB Action Plan. Possible interest by participants’ economies in Phase 2 will also be solicited as part of the feedback.

Dissemination

· Workshop participants will be expected to share knowledge gained on approaches to reforming regulatory systems for construction permits with their agencies and other counterparts in their home economies. To facilitate their efforts, a summary of the workshop will be provided via email in addition to printed course materials distributed to participants during the workshop. Project overseers will also work with APEC Secretariat to post a summary of the workshop on the APEC website for future reference, and relevant fora will also be kept updated via email.

· Results/Outcomes of the workshop will be presented at a future EC meeting. Some APEC economies have central government agencies that oversee, at the national level, overall efforts towards regulatory reforms. EC representatives will be encouraged to share the outcomes of this workshop with such agencies in their home economies to further reinforce awareness of the importance of and the impact of simple regulatory reforms that would improve the overall business environment.

· Project overseers will also keep SMEWG and IEG (and other interested sub-fora) updated of the material by distributing via email a summary of the outcomes of the workshop to members of these sub-fora for their information. Other materials used in the workshop, where appropriate, will also be shared with these sub-fora for onward circulation to the relevant regulatory agencies.

Gender

The project overseeing team and lead consultants include a mix of both men and women, and share responsibilities in the planning and management of the project, including the allocation of resources. Project overseers will work with lead consultants to avoid any gender bias in the selection of presenters/experts. Project overseers will also work closely with member economies to select participants based on their ability to provide leadership to steer the reform process in their home economies, and strongly encourage the nomination of women with relevant knowledge and experience in construction regulatory systems, and who can share insights on regulatory challenges in their home economy, to join the workshop as active participants.

-----------------------------

The capacity building workshop is a first step towards reforms in member economies to make it easier, faster and cheaper for businesses to secure construction permits. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with tighter profit margins often lack the resources required to manoeuvre around the complexities and bear the costs of multiple permit application processes, and as such SMEs are expected to be one of the key beneficiaries of this initiative. Lowering regulatory barriers especially in the traditionally male-dominated construction industry in particular could help SMEs led by women to break into and survive in a market that has proven increasingly competitive in many economies.

Female government officials who participate in the workshop also stand to gain networking opportunities with their counterparts in other APEC economies, which will help them develop useful links for experience sharing and exchanges going forward.

Work Plan

(a) Identify an appropriate partner/consultant to assist in the implementation of the workshop

The first step was to identify a consultant who can help to design a capacity building programme that can help participants to analyse the challenges faced, and better understand how to examine processes and systems associated with the issuance of permits and identify possible paths for reform.

Risk: The selection of an appropriate consultant is important, as some consultants might not have the expertise and experience in implementing effective reforms, and might lack a comprehensive understanding of ‘real world’ challenges associated with such reforms.

Risk management: Project overseers have approached Singapore’s practitioners, the Building and Construction Authority, which led reforms in Singapore to promote a more efficient application and approval process for construction permits, to help design an effective workshop.

(b) Design the workshop, identify and confirm speakers

Project overseers have worked with consultants on an appropriate design of the workshop. The aim is to share with participants a detailed case study of Singapore’s reform of the regulatory system for construction permits so as to comprehensively illustrate the various aspects of reform, key learning points and success factors. Project overseers have assessed that a five-day workshop is important to allow the topic to be explored fully and in depth, and to allow participants time for breakout sessions to exchange perspectives on challenges they foresee in their own economies and to discuss strategies to address these challenges. (An outline of the proposed curriculum can be found in the table below.)

Outline of proposed curriculum

Topic 1

Overview of Singapore’s System for Construction Permits

This module will cover the regulatory regime that governs the development, design, construction, operations and maintenance of building and infrastructure in Singapore. The various registration and licensing schemes put in place to regulate the various stakeholders will also be covered. The key topics covered will include the following:

· Singapore’s Development Control & Building Control Framework

· Key Agencies & profile of industry players

· Key policies, regulations & instruments

Topic 2

Approach for an Integrated Framework for Regulatory Approvals

This module will cover the strategic plans and initiatives that are put in

place to spur the building and construction industry forward. It will place

emphasis on the whole of government approach that was taken to transform the building sector. Key topics include:

· How good regulatory improvements can transform the construction industry
to reduce construction costs and time

· A multi-ministry collaboration to provide a common platform to streamline
process

· The use of Information Technology as an enabling platform to integrate the
permit process

· The development of the CORENET Programme & the IT Masterplan for the
construction industry

Case Study Part 1:

The CORENET Programme (COnstruction and Real Estate NETwork)

– Part 1: Implementation at Public Sector Agencies

This module will cover the rationale behind the policies and approaches taken to implement CORENET within the public sector agencies. The topics to be covered are:

·    Challenges, considerations & key decisions:
     o    Business process re-engineering for Agencies’ internal workflow &
        processes (alignment to a common platform)
o    Seamless system interface between CORENET network infrastructure and
        Agencies’ back-end systems (compatibility)

·    Linking the public & private sector organizations through the One-Stop
      Submission Centre (OSSC)
        o    Integrated Submission

Case Study Part 2:

The CORENET Programme:

-- Part 2 - Implementation of the CORENET Programme at Industry Level

This module will cover the close collaboration between the public sector agencies and industry partners in pushing for changes in the application and approval process. It will also touch on the various initiatives and schemes that were put in place to transform the building industry, making

use of IT as a platform. The topics will include:

·    Challenges, consideration & deliberate policies to help industry firms to transit
    from manual submission to electronic submission
     o    Re-engineering and alignment of the fragmented work processes in the
        construction Industry
o    Creation of a common platform for industry stakeholders to communicate
        & exchange information seamlessly

·    Multi-pronged approach in the implementation of CORENET
     o    Incentives & Govt assistance to industry
  o    Standardisation Process
o    Training & capability building
  o    Profiling industry users & providing customised assistance
    §   CORENET hotline
        §   E-kiosk
o    Phased Implementation to minimize teething problems

To ensure that participants understand how this workshop is the first phase of a wider capacity building programme, participants will also be provided with a short introduction to the APEC EoDB Action Plan. Understanding that there is high-level political commitment from their Leaders in support of the APEC-wide EoDB targets could help to reinforce practitioners’ willingness and interest to take up reforms, and to subsequently provide recommendations for their economies’ participation in Phase 2 of this EoDB capacity building programme.

Risk: Identified speakers might not be available to speak at the workshop.

Risk management: Project overseers will work with consultants to confirm the workshop date as soon as possible to ensure that proposed speakers can be engaged as early as possible.

(c) Confirm the location and date for the workshop

Project overseers propose to conduct the workshop in Singapore around July 2010.

As targeted participants are practitioners from relevant regulatory agencies, and are unlikely to be travelling to Japan to attend the main APEC fora and sub-fora meetings, project overseers assess that there are limited advantages to holding the workshop on the margins of APEC meetings in Japan, rather than in Singapore. Locating the workshop in Singapore will also increase the likelihood of front-line agencies – who can share insights on Singapore’s reform as part of the detailed case study – being able to speak to workshop participants, as well as facilitate site visits where appropriate.

Risk: The location and duration of the workshop might discourage some economies from attending due to budgetary constraints.

Risk mitigation: Project overseers are seeking funding from APEC to sponsor representatives from travel-eligible APEC economies. Project overseers will also make best efforts to secure a corporate discount from the official hotel to reduce costs for all participating economies, including non travel-eligible economies. Project organisers will also consider potentially reducing the course duration from five to four days if there is strong feedback from potential participants seeking such a reduction due to budgetary constraints.

(d) Identify and confirm the attendance of suitable participants

The target audience for the workshop are Directors, Heads of Department and other senior officers from relevant government agencies who may be involved in providing leadership to steer the reform process in the APEC economy. The workshop will cater to about 30-50 participants. We will guarantee places for at least two participants per economy. Given that some economies might not be able to send two participants, additional places in the workshop will also be offered to economies that are interested in sending more than two participants. Circulars containing information about the upcoming workshop will be distributed through the EC, SMEWG and IEG networks.

Risk (i): Participants might not have the requisite experience, background and influence; or may be too senior to understand the practical difficulties in implementing reforms.

Risk mitigation: Project overseers will work with APEC member economies, and where appropriate, seek recommendations from international organisations working with relevant regulatory agencies in the region, to identify suitable participants.

Risk (ii): Some economies might not be able to send participants due to fiscal constraints.

Risk mitigation: Budget proposed encapsulates funding to cater up to 2 participants per travel-eligible economy (both travel and per-diem) – this should ensure that economies most likely to be in need of attending this workshop, and yet most likely to face budgetary constraints, will be adequately funded.

----------------------

All APEC member economies are invited to nominate representatives for participation in the workshop and will play an important role in ensuring that officials that are best positioned to galvanise efforts for reform are selected as programme participants. APEC economies that have implemented successful reforms in Dealing with Permits are also urged to send a representative to this workshop in order to share their perspectives on alternative successful models pursued in the region.

Risks

See Work Plan

Monitoring and Evaluation

Current status:

ABAC’s 2009 survey ranked ‘Dealing with Permits’ as the top area of regulatory impediments faced by businesses in the APEC region. Analysis of APEC economies’ scores for Dealing with Permits in the World Bank’s Doing Business report suggests that there is significant potential for APEC economies to make the issuance of permits faster, cheaper and easier if there is strong commitment to regulatory reforms. APEC economies’ average scores are shown in Column (B) in the table below.

Target:

In the medium term, the workshop aims to contribute to APEC’s interim target of achieving an average 5 per cent improvement in the five identified priority areas, including Dealing with Permits, by 2011. Quantifiable targets for 2011 are listed in Column (C) in the table below.

One of the key targets of the workshop is to encourage APEC economies to commit to take part in Phase 2 of the Dealing with Permits capacity building programme, which will provide customised diagnostics to help economies design action plans tailored to address the specific concerns and constraints of their line agencies. Efforts by economies to follow up on these action plans with concrete steps towards improving existing procedures and practices are envisioned to help APEC achieve its 2015 target of a 25 per cent improvement. Targeted average scores for Dealing with Permits are reflected in Column (D) in the table below.

Table: APEC’s average targeted score in the Ease of Doing Business

(A)	(B)	(C)	(D)
	EoDB 2010 (September 2009) Average score by APEC economies	EoDB 2012 (September 2011) Targeted average score by APEC economies	EoDB 2016 (September 2015) Targeted average score by APEC economies
Cheaper Cost for Dealing with Permits (% of income per capita)	197	188	148
Faster Time for Dealing with Permits (days)	178	170	134
Easier Number of procedures for Dealing with Permits	19.8	18.8	14.8

In the immediate term, the success of the workshop could also be measured by considering the following:

· Number of practitioners from relevant regulatory agencies from member
economies who complete the workshop;

· Interest from member economies’ key regulatory agencies in further capacity
building workshops conducted by Singapore as the champion economy for
Dealing with Permits;

· Number of member economies who express interest in taking part in Phase 2 of
the Dealing with Permits capacity building programme.

Linkages

· Both SOM and EC were closely involved in the formulation of the EoDB Action Plan and discussed the identification of priority regulatory reform areas and the setting of targets to measure results over their meetings in 2009 before the action plan was endorsed by Senior Officials in November 2009. Draft work programmes prepared by champion economies, including Singapore’s programme that included information on this workshop, were also tabled for information at CSOM 2009.

· ABAC contributed valuable inputs via their survey of the business community to help identify the top areas of regulatory barriers faced by businesses when doing business in APEC, and to garner suggestions on regulatory reforms that businesses would like to see APEC governments work or improve on. ABAC’s survey ranked Dealing with Permits as the most important regulatory impediment faced by businesses in the APEC region.

· Project overseers have sought views from the Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group (SMEWG) and the Investment Experts' Group (IEG) on this project. SMEWG members indicated that the project is aligned with APEC priorities and is linked with current key SMEWG focus areas. Suggestions on how this project proposal might be improved have been incorporated into this proposal.

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This project will contribute directly to APEC’s target of achieving an interim 5 per cent improvement in the Ease of Doing Business by 2011, and a 25 per cent improvement by 2015 under the EoDB Action Plan. In particular, this workshop is an important first step to securing APEC member economies’ participating in Phase 2 of the Dealing with Permits capacity building programme.

The EoDB initiative also dovetails with efforts to implement the APEC Investment Facilitation Action Plan (IFAP), which among others, aims to create a more attractive investment environment by simplifying, streamlining and speeding up investment regimes, encouraging and fostering institutional cooperation and coordination; establishing “one-stop” approval authorities where appropriate; keeping the costs to the investor of the investment approval process to a minimum; and applying new technology to improve information, application and approval processes.

This workshop will build on efforts under the Private Sector Development (PSD) Work Plan to identify best practices in business regulations by examining more closely strategies that can be adopted by economies to overcome challenges faced in transitioning their regulatory agencies towards these best practices. In organising this workshop, project overseers will study outcomes from the “Obtaining Business Licenses” seminar held in Chiclayo, Peru in August 2008 (Project number: SME 04/2007T), such as the survey responses on Business License and Permit Requirements in APEC Member Economies (2008/SMEWG/SEM1/002). Where appropriate, relevant written materials produced by SMEWG, such as the proposed best practice guide for APEC member economies on how to improve business regulation, will be used as reference material for workshop participants.

APEC is deemed the most appropriate institution to co-fund this project especially as APEC’s EoDB targets are collective targets for reforms and improvements across the region. Project overseers are seeking funding from APEC to ensure that travel-eligible economies are able to attend the workshop and benefit from capacity building efforts alongside developed APEC member economies. The participation of as many APEC economies as possible will also help to ensure that the workshop provides maximum opportunities for experience sharing. Networks developed by workshop participants with their counterparts in other APEC economies will also promote mutual support, as well as peer pressure, that can help to sustain the momentum for reform in APEC.

Sustainability

Not Applicable

Direct Labour

Not Applicable

Are there any supporting document attached?

Project No.
Project Title
Project Status
Fund Account
Sub-fund
Project Year
Project Session
APEC Funding
Co-funding Amount
Total Project Value
Sponsoring Forum
Topics
Committee
Other Fora Involved
Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved
Proposing Economy(ies)
Co-Sponsoring Economies
Expected Start Date
Expected Completion Date
Project Proponent Name 1
Job Title 1
Organization 1
Telephone 1
Email 1
Project Proponent Name 2
Job Title 2
Organization 2
Telephone 2
Email 2
Declaration
Project Summary
Relevance
Objectives
Alignment
Beneficiaries and Outputs
Dissemination
Gender
Work Plan
Risks
Monitoring and Evaluation
Linkages
Sustainability
Direct Labour
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Monitoring Report Received
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Content Type: Standard Proposal