APEC Project Database

Project Title

2020 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum: Realizing the Nanjing Declaration to Universal Code of Ethics Adoption

Project Year

2019

Project Number

SME 03 2019A

Project Session

Session 1

Project Type

Standard

Project Status

Completed Project

Project No.

SME 03 2019A

Project Title

2020 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum: Realizing the Nanjing Declaration to Universal Code of Ethics Adoption

Project Status

Completed Project

Fund Account

APEC Support Fund

Sub-fund

ASF: General Fund

Project Year

2019

Project Session

Session 1

APEC Funding

129,500

Co-funding Amount

769,613

Total Project Value

899,113

Sponsoring Forum

Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group (SMEWG)

Topics

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Committee

SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE)

Other Fora Involved

Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved

Proposing Economy(ies)

United States

Co-Sponsoring Economies

Australia; Canada; Chile; Malaysia; Mexico; Chinese Taipei; Thailand

Expected Start Date

01/01/2020

Expected Completion Date

31/12/2020

Project Proponent Name 1

Tricia Van Orden

Job Title 1

Deputy Director, Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee

Organization 1

US Department of Commerce

Telephone 1

(1-202) 4825876

Email 1

tricia.vanorden@trade.gov

Project Proponent Name 2

Not Applicable

Job Title 2

Not Applicable

Organization 2

Not Applicable

Telephone 2

Not Applicable

Email 2

Not Applicable

Declaration

Tricia Van Orden

Project Summary

The Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative is the world’s largest partnership to strengthen ethical business practices in target sectors. Nearly 2,000 stakeholders have been trained and more than 18,000 companies (13,000+ SMEs) across every APEC economy have adopted high-standard codes of conduct. Propelled by the annual APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum, the focus on codes of conduct has expanded to strengthening ethical practices across the health economy. Eight “Consensus Framework” agreements have been implemented across diverse APEC economies. These accomplishments have been recognized by APEC Economic Leaders and SME Ministers on multiple occasions. The 2020 Business Ethics for SMEs Forum, to be held in East Asia will build on this work by equipping member economies and thousands of SMEs with tools and resources to align ethical business practices with APEC principles, while realizing the Nanjing Declaration 2020 commitments. This project will confirm initiative goals that align with ASF priorities, including developing and strengthening the dynamism of SMEs, and promoting the development of knowledge-based economies.

Relevance

Relevance – Region: The success of small and medium enterprises in many industries to engage in cross border trade requires trusted collaborations between stakeholders: industry, government, professional societies, research institutions, and consumers. Unethical behaviour undermines this trust, leading to significant adverse consequences for SMEs and economies. These consequences include elevated consumer distrust, unfair business conditions and/or inaccessible market opportunities, stifled innovation and investment, over regulation, and differing standards across borders leading to elevated business cost and legal risk.

To address unethical behaviour, the Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative has developed world renowned principles, guidance, training resources, and mentoring programs to strengthen ethical business practices in target sectors. From 2012 to 2019, the initiative has achieved near-universal adoption of ethics codes by medical technology and biopharmaceutical industry associations within APEC economies, more than doubling the total number of codes from 37 to 83 (including within 10 economies where codes previously did not exist). This has expanded high-standard ethical conduct to more than 18,000 companies (of which more than 13,000 are SMEs). Before the Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative was launched, the region’s first 38 codes in these sectors took over three decades to develop. This project will refine training tools and virtual deployment to enhance accessibility for thousands of SMEs across the region.

Endorsed by APEC SME Ministers September 2014, the Nanjing Declaration sets targets for the medical device and biopharmaceutical industry, governments, healthcare professionals, and non-government organizations, particularly patient organizations by 2020 to promote ethical environments. The Forum in 2020 will revisit these commitments to see where progress still needs to be made.

For the first time in its history, the initiative will undertake an impact assessment in the form of a report to measure the impact of these efforts with respect to economies, businesses, society, and innovation.

Relevance – Eligibility and Fund Priorities: This project supports APEC’s capacity building goals for developing economies by providing in-person and sustained virtual training resources to SMEs, governments, and other health system stakeholders. Specifically, the project supports five funding priority areas of the APEC Support Fund (General Fund):

1) Developing and strengthening the dynamism of SMEs: This project fosters an external business environment and strengthens internal capacities that permit SMEs to sustainably operate as global suppliers and distributors.

2) Developing human capital: Supporting key implementation provisions of the APEC Strategic Plan on Capacity Building to Promote Trade and Investment, this project includes integrated and multi-faceted capacity-building based on demonstrated needs and mobilizing greater external resources to facilitate human development.

3) Facilitating technology flows and harnessing technologies for the future: This project will leverage technology by integrating online programs such as a Distributors Compliance Portal for the medical device sector and an APEC SME CEO Integrity Program for the biopharmaceutical sector to scale access for thousands of SMEs across the APEC region.

4) Integration into the global economy: This project supports the implementation of high-standard codes of ethics for SMEs across all member economies, and the reach extends into all areas where they conduct business, thereby facilitating SME integration into the global economy. Regional convergence to high standards of business conduct clarifies ethics rules for SMEs and reduces costs attributable to cross-border compliance risk, catalyzing trade and investment. These efforts also strengthen SME partnership opportunities across borders, expanding their market reach.

5) Addressing social dimension of globalization: This project continues to successfully address a major vulnerability in international trade for SMEs as well as for consumers/patients. According to the IMF, among advanced economies, a economy in the top 25 percent in terms of control of corruption collects 4.5 percent of GDP more in revenues on average than a economy in the lowest 25 percent. The gap in revenue collection is 2.75 percent of GDP among emerging market economies and 4 percent of GDP among low-income economies. SMEs suffer the greatest impact, with up to 25 percent of annual operating capital lost to unethical practices. This social dimension is particularly salient in sectors that are tied to public finances, such as the health industry.

Relevance – Capacity Building: With support from the Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative’s 150+ person expert team, which has a proven track record of delivering stellar, quantifiable results in capacity-building, this project will deploy a train-the-trainer approach by providing in-person and virtual training, mentorships, and dialogue sessions for every APEC developing member economy. Training resources include a Distributors Compliance Portal for the medical device sector to leverage technology for thousands of SME and a SME CEO Integrity Program for the biopharmaceutical sector to support SME leaders to strengthen their competitiveness.

Objectives

This project facilitates enterprise-level implementation of ethical business practices by bringing together SMEs and their industry associations, governments, professional and patient groups to: (1) facilitate the adoption of best practices outlined in the APEC Principles (Kuala Lumpur Principles, Medical Device Sector; Mexico City Principles, Biopharmaceutical Sector); (2) implement scalable ethics training capacity building curriculum; (4); and (4) realize full implementation of the Nanjing Declaration’s 2020 commitments.

Alignment

Beneficiaries and Outputs

Outputs:

1) Consensus Frameworks for Ethical Collaboration: Two economies are expected to adopt consensus framework agreements for ethical collaboration at the 2020 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum. Since 2014, hundreds of medical device and biopharmaceutical industry associations, healthcare professional and hospital groups, patient organizations, health regulators, and other stakeholders across nearly a dozen member economies have committed to improving collaboration on ethical business conduct through Consensus Frameworks. A Consensus Framework is a formalized agreement or commitment by multiple parties across the healthcare system to convene on a routine basis and facilitate action items that support ethical business conduct. In addition to the adoption of consensus frameworks, which is a significant achievement for SMEs and all health economy stakeholders, there will also be discussion of specific tactics for implementation at the 2020 Forum.

For those economies who have adopted a Consensus Framework, 1-2 economies are expected to leverage the Government Strategies to Encourage Ethical Business Conduct (Resource Guide) produced by the 2019 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum. This Guide outlines strategies that governments are already taking around the world to encourage ethical business conduct across six unique areas: (1) Convening Power, (2) Procurement, (3) Regulatory Practices, (4) Enforcement Recognitions and Incentives, (5) Government Supported Business Ethics Training, and (6) Trade Agreements.

2) Distributors Portal (Medical Device Sector, Self-Funded): The initiative has focused on ambitious but achievable targets for distributors, medical technology associations, healthcare providers, and governments to help third-party intermediary SMEs strengthen adherence to high-standard ethical business practices. In 2018, the initiative issued Tokyo Recommendations to implement the 2017 APEC Guidance for Ethical Third Party Intermediary Relationships in the Medical Device Sector. In 2020, the associations will pilot the Third Party certification mechanism in at least two economies, each reaching over 1,000 distributors (see details in the Tokyo Recommendations.

3) APEC SME Leaders in Ethics and Integrity (LEIP) Program (Biopharmaceutical Sector, Self-Funded): At least two biopharmaceutical industry associations will pilot each stage of the APEC SME Leaders in Ethics and Integrity (LEIP) Program. This will build upon the design plan to be presented at the 2019 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum created by leading SMEs ethics and compliance trainers. The design plan outlines the phases for equipping the top leadership of SMEs in the sector with tools to implement an effective ethics and integrity program aligned with APEC Principles. Biopharmaceutical industry associations will identify SMEs within their membership to serve as candidates for the LEIP program and leverage their current training programs to engage SME CEOs.

4) 2020 Reports on Code of Ethics Implementation by APEC Medical Device Industry Associations and Biopharmaceutical Industry Associations (Graphic design, APEC funded; printing/survey design and dissemination, self-funded; to be an published as an APEC Publication) The goal of these two reports is to synthesized and present detailed information collected from industry associations in each respective sector to indicate where progress has been made since 2012 and where challenges remain. The report covers four main areas: 1) code governance; 2) code alignment; 3) member enterprise implementation; and 4) external engagement. The target audience for the survey are the 34 medical device sector industry associations and 71 biopharmaceutical sector industry associations, which collectively represents over 18,000 member companies of which over 13,000 are SMEs. Insights are useful for governments, healthcare professionals, patient groups, non-member companies, and third party intermediaries. The reports are each 7-8 pages in length (see 2018 reports here and here). These will be disseminated on the initiative websites and to the initiative database of over 1500 stakeholders. These reports will serve as the Summary Report for the Forum.

5) Strategic Plan for Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative: Forum participants representing the medical device and biopharmaceutical sectors will hold strategy sessions to determine a strategic plan to meet the 2020 Nanjing Declaration goals and to address new challenges beyond 2020. These strategy sessions will take place at the Forum to develop a finalized document to be circulated following the Forum.

Outcomes: Upon successful implementation, the following outcomes are anticipated (see Strategic Assessment of 2020 Commitments for a logic model of these inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact):

1) Nanjing Declaration: Updates to the Nanjing Declaration to Promote Ethical Environments in the Medical Device and Biopharmaceutical Sectors (2014-2020). This includes goals for each stakeholder’s unique role in the healthcare sector including universal medical device and biopharmaceutical industry association code adoption and implementation.

2) Tokyo Action Plan Recommendations to Promote Ethical Third Party Intermediary Relationships in the Medical Device Sector Through 2021: Sets indicators for third party intermediary relationships in the medical device sector through 2021 depending on the stakeholder.

3) The project team also anticipates the project’s positive outcomes will extend beyond APEC, with the initiative increasingly viewed as a model in non-member economies (e.g., Colombia, Brazil, India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, among others). We also expect several new consensus frameworks and public-private partnerships to emerge from this event that will have a major regional impact on strengthening ethical practices, especially for APEC developing economies. The project team looks forward to enhancing collaborations (between industry associations and their SME members), elaborating best practices and facilitating cross-border trade.

Beneficiaries: The direct project participants will include all attendees at the 2020 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum. Attendance is expected from approximately 250 professionals and stakeholders relevant to the medical device and biopharmaceuticals industry. Professionals are generally represented by leaders from individual companies or industry associations, including many who serve SMEs. Related stakeholders include healthcare professionals, patient representatives, and government regulators, among others. The anticipated project outputs will benefit a large set of SMEs and other stakeholders. The project’s beneficiaries include:

1) Medical device and biopharmaceutical industry associations in the APEC region and the thousands of SME member companies they represent. They will directly benefit from virtual training resources and guidance documents developed at the 2020 Forum. These resources will be made available online and thereby available to any interested SME or stakeholder.

2) Government officials from APEC economies responsible for anti-corruption through an expanded effort to proactively engage in promoting ethical business practices in the medical device and biopharmaceutical sectors through the Government Incentives Compendium in areas such as Consensus Framework agreements, procurement, training, and free trade agreements; and

3) Healthcare professional organizations, such as physicians, pharmacists, and nurses, through the development and adoption of consensus frameworks for ethical collaboration with diverse healthcare system stakeholders, including industry associations and SMEs across the APEC region.

4) Civil society and academia from intentional engagement with industry and government stakeholders to address shared challenges on business ethics issues (patients, caregivers, consumers, etc.)

Dissemination

The results and outputs of the 2020 Business Ethics for SMEs Forum will be captured in the 2020 Report on Code of Ethics Implementation by APEC Medical Device Industry Associations and by APEC Biopharmaceutical Industry Associations, which will be an APEC publication. Reporting and other written outputs associated with this project, which will be publicly available, will be presented to the Secretariat in a standard of English which requires no further copy-editing. Participation in and outcomes from the 2020 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum will be communicated within APEC through in-person and electronic reports to the SMEWG and SME Ministers, ABAC, Life Sciences Innovation Forum (LSIF), Health Working Group (HWG), and Anti-Corruption & Transparency Working Group (ACTWG). Outside of APEC, electronic and in-person communications will be disseminated to stakeholders identified as critical to fostering ethical business environments in the healthcare sector. These include:

· Governments – Officials responsible for anti-corruption and health and relevant regulators;

· Industry – Associations and their member enterprises in the medical device and biopharmaceutical sectors; and

· Other key stakeholders - Leaders of hospital, pharmacy, insurance and other payers, healthcare professionals, and patient/consumer groups.

The project team utilizes satellite websites established in 2015 to enhance dissemination of project outputs and other resources for stakeholders in each covered sector. A website for the biopharmaceutical sector, accessible here, contains information and resources for small business to adopt codes of ethics and establish compliance programs. A new website was created in 2018 to host the resources developed the medical device sector, accessible here. These websites are supported in-kind by stakeholders and serve as an on-going communication platform.

As with previous APEC Business Ethics Forums, we believe this project will receive notable media attention. The project team will coordinate with the APEC Public Affairs team, host economy, and other stakeholders to appropriately disseminate project outputs through the media in 2020. It is anticipated that a media release similar to that issued for the 2018 Forum (and at the upcoming 2019 Forum) will again be issued for the 2020 Forum. The 2018 media release can be found here.

Key outputs include:

· Setting Best Practices: Universal code adoption / implementation based on APEC Principles; Universal consensus frameworks: landmark agreements within economies to unite healthcare systems;

· Capacity Building: Refining and expanding virtual / in person training programs; and

. Monitoring & Evaluation: Continuing to monitor industry associations with possible expansion to other stakeholders.

Gender

The PO will proactively seek balanced representation by men and women in the project’s agenda, among Forum attendees, and in those leveraging the project’s outputs within each member economy. This includes taking an equitable approach to the selection of expert teams and speakers as well as during the recruitment process. This approach has enabled previous APEC business ethics programs to achieve strong gender balance. We are confident there will be robust participation by both genders in the project, particularly those leading industry and government organizations of great importance to SMEs. Women play a particularly important role in the success of APEC SMEs and their associations. They also benefit from the project’s efforts to strengthen ethical business practices within and between APEC member economies. Further efforts will be examined in 2020 on the positive gender impact of ethical business environments in the agenda and project outputs. PO will seek to include at least 50% of speakers / experts at the Forum and participation targets of male and female of 50%.

It is also important to note that women are vital contributors to the project team as well as the extensive network of ethics champions supporting this effort. Throughout the lifetime of the initiative, omen from all 21 APEC member economies have actively led and participated in the APEC SME business ethics work. Many of the most active project experts are women; from mentors/leaders within industry groups working with SMEs in Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Thailand, United States and Viet Nam to government leaders supporting SMEs in all 21 APEC economies. It should be noted that the Project Overseer is a woman, as are industry coordinators in both the medical device and biopharmaceutical sector programs. The project will collect information on the representation of female to male participants to be submitted at the completion report to the Secretariat when the project ends. PO is committed to collect sex-disaggregated data for all speakers and participants from the project event. This data will be included as part of the submission of the Completion Report to the Secretariat and will serve to guide future POs on their own gender parity targets.

Work Plan

Time	Tasks	Deliverables
October – December 2019	Finalise Forum two-day structure	General Information of the Workshop
January 2020	Identify speakers and pane/workshop facilitators for the Forum Confirm Forum timing and venue	Invitation/save the date
February – March 2020	Identify target attendees and circulate save-the-dates	Invitation / save the date
April – May 2020	Finalise Key Deliverables for the Forum	Forum Agenda Setting Best Practices Government Guide to Facilitate Ethical Business Practices (self-funded) Capacity Building: Refining and expending online training programs including the Distributor’s Portal and APEC SME Leaders in Ethics an Integrity (LEIP) Program (Biopharmaceutical Sector, Self-Funded) Monitoring and Evaluation: Survey Industry associations for the 2020 Reports on Code of Ethics Implementation by APEC Medical Device Industry Associations and Biopharmaceutical Industry Associations (to serve as the summary report)
May – August 2020	Refine Forum Agenda, Secure Technology Resources, and Recruit Attendees	Forum Agenda
September 2020	Hold 2020 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum	Forum
September – October 2020	Disseminate Forum outputs	Completion Report
April 2020	Submit Monitoring Report	Monitoring Report
September-November 2020 or February 2021	Drafting, endorsement and submission of the Completion Report and all supporting documents to the Secretariat	Completion Report
June 2021	Participation in the Long Term Evaluation of APEC Projects conducted by the Secretariat, as required by all APEC funded projects	Long-term evaluation

Risks

Risk	Management strategy
Inability to secure host venue for Forum or venue-related logistical challenges	Project team will rapidly assess venue options and will send a Request for Proposals to major venues.
Lack of availability of target participants from select APEC economies	Project has received overwhelming support from every APEC economy. Strong recruitment will address any gap stemming from limited interest. Early notification to address calendar pressures.
Schedule conflicts from sought speakers, experts or trainers	Project has a substantial pool of the world’s highest quality speakers, experts and trainers on ethics issues. Examples include executive-level industry leaders, government officials, and leaders of industry associations. Upon request, PO can provide a full participant list of the 200+ stakeholders expected to be involved in 2019. Enhanced recruitment will overcome scheduling conflicts that arise for target attendees.
Program coordination between multiple sectors	The Project Overseer and support team have substantial experience in balancing the needs of multiple sectors to ensure all objectives are met.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative has implemented extensive monitoring and evaluation to ensure objectives are met. Key indicators include: (A) the number of trainings conducted (at least 2 economies), (B) commitments achieved under the Nanjing Declaration (universal code adoption by 2020 – see report on Code of Ethics Implementation), and (C) number of consensus framework agreements set under a collaborative vision for the APEC region as health innovations expand (the launch of at least 2 additional economies by 2021). Assessments through surveys will evaluate gender impact and be disseminated to all participants. 2019 Report on Code of Ethics Implementation by APEC Medical Device Industry Associations and Biopharmaceutical Industry Associations results to be released in August 2019.

The Tokyo Action Plan Recommendations to Promote Ethical Third Party Intermediary Relationships in the Medical Device Sector Through 2021 sets indicators depending on stakeholder such as:

Industry Associations (Company and/or Third Party Sales and Marketing Intermediary members):

· Double the number of associations that have implemented codes or issued recommendations consistent with the Guidance by 2021

· Double the number of associations with annual Third Party SMI training by 2021

· Develop at least one voluntary Third Party SMI certification model by 2021

· These areas are being measured in the 2019 Report on Code of Ethics Implementation by APEC Medical Device Industry Associations and Biopharmaceutical Industry Associations to be delivered at the 2019 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum.

Governments:

· Develop measures that promote or incentivize Third Party SMIs to adhere to and advance the Guidance and the APEC Kuala Lumpur Principles. These measures are currently under development for deliberation at the 2019 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum.

HCPs & HCP Organizations:

· Enhance awareness of and/or promote code of conduct alignment with the APEC Kuala Lumpur Principles. These measures are currently under development for deliberation at the 2019 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum.

Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative:

· Establish a virtual resource portal by 2019

To provide accurate tracking of outcomes, the Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative has implemented extensive monitoring and evaluation to continue to expand beyond the life of this project to ensure objectives are met. The project administers an annual survey, conducted online and by phone, which is undertaken by the Project Team (sample survey available upon request). The survey covers four areas: assessing code governance, alignment with APEC Principles, member implementation, and external engagement. The survey results are shared with all project partners and stakeholders to track progress toward the Nanjing 2020 goals and to maintain accountability. Post-event evaluations are conducted by participants through phone calls and email. There will also be significant, ongoing collaboration among the networks of ethics champions, with contributors providing regular status updates to the project overseer on the achievement of key objectives. This network of hundreds of ethics champions in the medical device and biopharmaceutical sectors (operating within and between all APEC member economies) will ensure sustained local and multilateral capacity building beyond the project team’s efforts. The project team plans to continue sustained monitoring and evaluation in collaboration with the network of ethics champions. We expect that the survey results will be presented in the Completion Report of this project.

Linkages

This project builds upon advances from the multi-year Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative, as well as the 2014-2019 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forums, while maintaining its own specific objectives and deliverables. The project aligns with APEC Guidelines for Promoting Cross-Fora Collaboration through its engagement with members of the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Working Group (ACTWG), Life Sciences Innovation Forum (LSIF), and Health Working Group (HWG) on code of ethics development and health system strengthening. Routine cross-fora collaboration includes information sharing, contributing to initiative deliverables, recruitment of project participants, supporting local training and mentoring activities, and showcasing project outcomes at ABAC and other high-level meetings. The initiative has significantly expanded the cross fora collaboration, including in 2020 when we expect increased collaboration with the ACTWG to provide examples in the Government Incentives Compendium.

APEC is the perfect source of funds, because it provides the lead funding to enable others to contribute and unlock other funds from private sector and civil society that would not otherwise be available. Without the APEC funds, these stakeholders would be unable to contribute to the efforts to strengthen ethical business practices. Previous forums have attracted millions of dollars in self-funding.

Sustainability

The project’s outputs will continue to have an impact on industry, professional organizations and related codes of ethics aligned with the APEC Principles and in accordance with the Nanjing Declaration. We have already witnessed the elaboration of new codes from previous project outputs through (A) holding capacity-building programs, providing greater accessibility to organizations unable to attend previous events and (B) the initiative’s impressive focus on translating these outputs into concrete results through concerted follow-up. Now the initiative will focus on deploying the virtual capacity building tools to those in the region who are implementing those codes to realize the full impact of these codes of ethics across thousands of enterprises in every APEC member economy.

Beneficiaries from this project include the wider medical device and biopharmaceutical sectors. This includes industry associations, governments, professional organizations, civil society, and academia to be engaged to carry forward the results and lessons from the project in the years to come. This will be achieved through the implementation of capacity building resources through industry associations with a reach of over 18,000 member enterprises, and the introduction of the APEC model to create new consensus frameworks agreements for ethical collaboration across APEC member economies as well as the effective implementation of existing frameworks. This will continue to be monitored through the initiative’s robust data reporting system.

This collaborative effort engages with all stakeholders to ensure the project is sustained in the long term. This is achieved in four main ways. The first is through support from a private-public partnership and network of hundreds of ethics champions covering all 21 APEC economies. Second, this enjoys robust involvement from senior government leaders, industry and civil society. These stakeholders have a strong interest to ensure the 2020 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum meets its objectives and project outputs are deployed within and between each APEC economy. This commitment is demonstrated through the dedication of major in-kind resources from stakeholders across each member economy, amounting to nearly five times that which APEC is contributing for this particular project. Third, the initiative’s comprehensive monitoring program will also continue to track efforts that ensure outputs are undergoing implementation an economy-by-economy basis. Lack of progress is reported to APEC governments for localized action. Fourth, there will be a concerted effort to build upon the project’s outputs through a continued call for regional cooperation to implement the APEC principles, heightened multi-sectoral collaboration, and expanded efforts that address new and emerging issues in business ethics. The project will facilitate APEC’s continued leadership in this effort while implementing the Nanjing Declaration.

There are several next steps to build on project outcomes:

· Prepare a dedicated, virtual library of multi-lingual modules that could be freely circulated from APEC to each association partner, supporting their no-cost, rapid implementation of best practices training to over 18,000 enterprises. The virtual library will continue to remain relevant through using an expert team comprised of industry and associations to ensure relevance. This will be maintained by the Project Team, and all material will be reviewed and vetted by the Project Overseer.

· Continue to advance implementation of the APEC Principles among all relevant industry associations in the APEC region and work towards a majority of these associations’ member enterprises having implemented a code of ethics before the Forum takes place;

· Support and monitor progress of local training programs for SME members by each association;

· Develop additional mechanisms for regional coordination among all stakeholders, especially SMEs, on addressing new and emerging business ethics issues;

· Continue APEC’s role in serving as ongoing platform for collaboration among all stakeholders to advance ethical business practices in sectors of key importance to SMEs. This includes plans to hold the APEC Business Ethics Forum on an annual basis through 2020. Each meeting will continue to build on progress from the last and report on efforts to implement previous project outputs within all APEC economies; and

. Strategize with stakeholders on future goals needed to advance ethical practices in the industry post 2020.

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
Are there any supporting document attached?
hdFldAdmin
Project Number
Previous Fora
Secretariat Comments
Reprogramming Notes
Consolidated QAF
Endorsement By Fora
PD Sign Off
Batch
Forum Priority
Committee Ranking Category
Committee Priority
PDM Priority
Priority Within Funding Category
Monitoring Report Received
Completion Report Received
PMU Field 1
PMU Field 2
PMU Field 3
On Behalf Of
Proposal Status
Originating Sub-Forum
Approval Status
Attachments

Content Type: Standard Proposal