Soundbites

"Recovery in the Asia-Pacific is progressing, but growth remains uneven, and its medium-term trajectory has dropped a notch due to sluggish trade and factors like reduced productivity. APEC economies recognize that there are no quick fixes and are taking a long view in their policy calculations."

Alan Bollard, executive director of the APEC secretariat

"Production networks that span multiple economies are prevalent in our region. This makes standardized product identification codes and data infrastructure across multiple economies increasingly important for effective and efficient border management and supply-chain performance."

John Larkin, chair of the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment

"APEC has set goals and made good progress on structural reform, connectivity, infrastructure and ease of doing business. However, APEC could consider establishing an APEC-wide education initiative and targeted goals to address this middle-income challenge."

Eduardo Pedrosa, secretary-general of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council

"Building on APEC's successful work over the years on economic integration, trade and investment liberalization and structural reform, APEC is well-positioned to help developing economies avoid the middle-income trap and graduate into high-income status."

Tan Jian, senior APEC official from China

China Daily

(China Daily 05/15/2014 page10)