47th Workshop Meeting of Heads of NPOs
6–8 March 2007, Bali, Indonesia
Ladies and Gentlemen:
A very warm welcome to you all to this 47th Workshop Meeting of Heads of NPOs. We are deeply grateful to the Government of Indonesia for hosting this annual planning meeting of the APO on the beautiful resort island of Bali. We are most honored and privileged to have H.E. Erman Suparno, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration, the Honorable Dewa Baratha, Governor of Bali, and Secretary-General Harry Heriawan Saleh, Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, grace the inaugural session. I would like to thank APO Director for Indonesia Besar Setyoko for his gracious and warm hospitality. My deep appreciation also goes to Mr. Afdaluddin, NPO Head and APO Liaison Officer for Indonesia, for the excellent logistical arrangements made for this meeting.
In this statement, I would like to give my views on three broad areas. One is the reorganization of the APO Secretariat and its impact on the activities of the organization. It is my obligation to explain to you what work has been assigned to each of the four newly constituted departments after the reorganization. My second area of focus has to do with our continued efforts to improve APO programs. Under this heading, I would like to introduce some of the measures we have taken recently or are going to take to improve project performance which are not directly linked to the reorganization. The third area concerns building relationships with countries and organizations outside the APO region. Our past record and future plans to strengthen ties with countries in Africa will be described under this heading.
The start of 2007 was historic for the APO Secretariat as it was restructured from six to four departments from the beginning of January: Administration and Finance, Research and Planning, Industry, and Agriculture. Most of the functions of the previous Environment Department were integrated with those of the Industry Department, while the functions of the previous Information and Public Relations Department were wholly taken over by the Administration and Finance Department. In spite of the regrouping of departments into a leaner setup, let me assure you that the functions of previous departments will remain solid as they were integrated into the other departments. I am sure that the synergy derived from the pooling of resources and capabilities within the Secretariat will lead to greater cost-effectiveness of our operations.
The Administration and Finance Department, in addition to its usual function as the central administrator of the Secretariat, is undertaking the Information and Public Relations Program. In carrying out this new responsibility, it is instructed to make more effective use of the Internet to boost our information and public relations activities. In many countries, the print media are losing popularity to the Internet, with more people surfing the Web than reading books and magazines. Therefore the Web site must be the principal tool to disseminate information on the activities of the APO. We intend to invest more resources in our Web site so that it will become more attractive and useful to our audience. For that purpose, the publication of the Japanese edition of the APO News was stopped from January this year.
The Research and Planning Department will expand its think-tank role within the organization. Considering the impact of globalization and increased competitiveness in global markets, we will actively seek to identify emerging concepts, ideas, and experiences affecting productivity including the latest tools and strategies not only within but also beyond the APO region. If necessary, the Secretariat intends to conduct its own fact-finding missions to advanced countries to gather the latest ideas and know-how on productivity enhancement and competitiveness. The knowledge gained will then be used to plan APO projects and at the same time allow the APO to play its advisory role to member countries.
Last month, the APO supported two large conferences hosted by India and Thailand on the subject of knowledge management (KM). The one in Thailand was the International Productivity Conference 2007 and held to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the APO. They both helped APO members to understand the growing importance of KM in driving innovations. Given the interest shown by not only the hosts but also the other participating member countries, this subject will receive continued attention from the APO.
The strengthening of NPOs will remain a focus area of the APO. There will be a new approach to the Development of NPOs Program, which will be carried out at two levels, “DON Strategy,” and “DON Implementation.” DON Strategy will involve identifying new and emerging topics, issues, and challenges and proactively meeting the needs of APO member countries. It will be administered by the Research and Planning Department.
DON Implementation refers to all the individual country-related services such as TES, BCBN, and DMP. All these services have been placed “under one roof,” the Industry Department, to ensure maximum effectiveness in service delivery and resource utilization. They will be implemented in line with the suggestions coming from DON Strategy.
Having also absorbed most of the functions of the previous Environment Department, the Industry Department is now the largest of the three functional departments. This year will see many more projects implemented by the Industry Department, including those on green procurement, green supply chains, ecodesign, energy efficiency, the 3Rs, and the clean development mechanism.
We successfully organized the third Eco-products International Fair (EPIF) last September in Singapore, hosting 107 exhibitors from 14 countries and attracting 34,500 visitors. In terms of number of exhibitors and visitors as well as the international character of the exhibition, it was the largest and most successful to date. The EPIF logo with the theme “A Better Environment for All” was also unveiled at that fair and will be used for future events. The next EPIF is to be held in Vietnam in early 2008.
Concerning the activities of the Agriculture Department, at last year’s WSM in Kuala Lumpur, I emphasized the need for enterprises to be aware of consumers’ preference for safe and environment-friendly food products if they were to remain competitive. I also stressed that the APO would endeavor to play a vital role in developing supply chains in the region to produce safer and greener products. A number of projects were implemented in line with this objective in 2006, including those on ISO22000, greening supply chains for enhancing the profitability and sustainability of farming, and effective disease control and prevention in the poultry sector, particularly of avian influenza. This objective will be pursued even more vigorously this year.
Turning to the second area of measures we have taken or are going to take to improve the performance of APO projects which are not directly linked to the structural reorganization of the Secretariat, in response to the expressed desire of member countries we have made further efforts to shift the emphasis from Category A projects to Categories B and C. In the 2007 Program, 65% of the planned projects are under the latter two categories. The comparable figures for 2005 and 2006 were 45% and 46%, respectively. This shift in emphasis allows for higher attendance from each participating country, which in turn will facilitate follow-up activities. A key factor enabling us to achieve a much higher ratio of Categories B and C in the 2007 Program is the willingness of member countries to host Category B projects. Some seem to believe that Category A projects are more prestigious than those in Category B. I hope that you will persuade such people that such is simply not the case.
One way to optimize our limited resources for maximum multiplier effects is to use a two-tiered approach: a multicountry project to be followed by individual country initiatives that will propagate the knowledge gained during the multicountry project. Our experience last year with selected projects such as the workshop on the One Village, One Product Movement showed that this is a productive way of meeting the diverse needs of member countries and at the same time ensuring that the knowledge and skills gained by participants in multicountry projects will become firmly rooted in each country. This approach also allows us to tap the knowledge base generated from multicountry projects to fit individual countries’ needs and environments and thus add more value. In 2007 and 2008, we are planning to implement more projects utilizing this approach.
The previous WSM raised the need to waive airfares to encourage greater participation from the private sector. Accordingly, the Secretariat made a proposal on this at last year’s GBM, where approval was granted to amend the project regulations governing airfares. The Secretariat then immediately advised member countries that the APO would provide airfares to all private-sector participants from less developed countries (LDCs) and to private-sector participants from SMEs to those from non-LDCs. Although only eight months have passed since this new arrangement has been in place, progress has already been seen. During the first six months after amending the regulations, almost 17% of project participants represented the private sector and NGOs. I hope that the revision in rules governing the provision of airfares will encourage NPOs to submit more nominees from the private sector for participation in APO activities.
However, the results on ensuring that all participants in APO projects have the requisite qualifications specified in the project notifications have not been that encouraging. I do not want to repeat how underqualified participants undermine the learning experience of the other competent participants. We would appreciate it if you would help ensure that only the appropriate candidates are nominated and for that purpose nominate more than one person for each project.
e-Learning is an innovative IT-based method that the APO can use to reach a wider audience in a cost-effective manner. For this reason, the APO has set up an e-Learning Portal on its Web site which can host self-learning e-courses, allowing users to attend the course at their own pace and time over the Internet. The portal also offers live presentations by resource persons during traditional APO projects. In 2006, the APO launched its first self-learning e-course on total quality management. More than 9,000 participated, auguring well for the APO to play a leading role in Web-based projects now and in the future. This year a few more self-learning e-courses will be added.
Another new approach we have taken is to combine face-to-face projects with e-learning courses. As you know, the training element in our projects has been eroded recently due to the shortening of project durations. Although this combination cannot compensate fully for the training elements in traditional projects, it provides ample opportunities for resource persons to impart basic knowledge to participants through supplementary e-learning sessions before attending face-to-face projects for greater training content. A special IT support and e-learning budget is already available to ensure continuity to IT-based initiatives.
My final area of focus is on building relations with countries and organizations outside the APO region. The APO must constantly look beyond its boundaries to network and connect with other international organizations in fulfilling its mission and goals. The synergy derived from the network of resources and capabilities from within and beyond the APO region has been mutually beneficial and should be sustained.
Our alliance with the ASEAN Foundation deserves special mention. In 2005, we co-organized three projects in the ASEAN region with a grant of $355,000 from the foundation. In 2006, four more projects were added with a fresh grant of $480,000 from the ASEAN Foundation for our joint initiatives. I hope that this form of collaboration will continue and expand to lend added value and resources to the APO.
Under the African Program 2006, the APO sponsored the Roundtable Conference for the Promotion of the Productivity Movement in Africa in South Africa in August last year. Over 80 participants and observers from seven African countries in the Pan African Productivity Association (PAPA), comprising Botswana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia, attended the conference. The conference helped participating countries and PAPA to develop productivity master plans. The impact of that Roundtable Conference was immediately seen in a series of follow-up visits to the APO Secretariat by top-level and working-level African delegates to discuss the productivity movement and its promotion. I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation not only to the Japanese government for the financial support to hold that Roundtable Conference but also to the resource persons from APO member countries who shared their experiences with our African partners.
After the success of the 2006 African Program, we hope to receive further grants from member countries to continue it this year and to expand its scope. We will contribute to building up the productivity promotion capacity of NPOs in Africa based on the master plans they prepared at the Roundtable Conference. We would also like to assist PAPA to become a thriving regional organization. At the Roundtable Conference, we were fortunate to receive a videotaped message from former South African President Nelson Mandela in which he said: “This forum of cooperation between institutions and persons from our respective continents provides the springboard for development and advances on both continents and regions. It is in this taking of hands and working together that humankind shall advance and progress in our century.”
African countries are learning from us in Asia and the Pacific. We must also learn from others with superior knowledge and experience. We are therefore attempting to establish more contacts for collaboration with countries in other regions. As President Mandela so rightly pointed out, it is in working together that humankind can advance. If you would like to recommend agencies and institutions in other regions for collaboration, we would be very glad to hear from you.
Before concluding, I should mention that at last year’s GBM, the Secretariat proposed the introduction of a biennial APO budget in place of the current annual one, together with adjustments in the timing of both the GBM and WSM. This was to allow member countries sufficient time to consult with their governments on budget proposals and membership contributions. If this is approved by the Governing Body at its meeting this year, the timing of the GBM for 2008 will be moved from June to April, and the WSM will be held in October. The transition to the new timing for the two meetings will necessitate the convening of a second WSM later this year. Vietnam has kindly agreed to host the meeting in October. More details will be given once the proposal is approved and arrangements finalized.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge with deep gratitude the support and cooperation extended to the APO by various organizations, especially the ASEAN Foundation and the Colombo Plan Secretariat. I also want to express my sincere thanks to the NPOs for promoting the APO in their countries, for sourcing participants and experts, and for hosting APO projects. The APO is a network of member countries. Unless this network is alive, well, and supportive, the APO as an organization will not be able to do very much. That we have achieved so much over all the years of the APO’s existence is a tribute to the vision and commitment of our member countries. We can all be justifiably proud, while moving forward to achieve more.
I hope that we have productive discussions and an enjoyable stay in Bali. Thank you.
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