51st APO Governing Body Meeting
20−22 April 2009, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Closing Statement
By Shigeo Takenaka
APO Secretary-General
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am pleased that our session proceeded very smoothly which confirmed the practicality of the biennial budgeting system as we expected it to be at the time of its inception two years ago. With the total membership contributions for 2009 and 2010 unanimously decided by the Directors last year, we did not have substantial financial issues to deliberate this time. On the program side, revisions were proposed taking into account the challenges the world and member countries are facing due to the ongoing financial crisis. They were also proposed considering the inputs from the Heads of NPOs and Agriculture delegates at the most recent Siem Reap Workshop Meeting. Overall, the revisions were intended to give greater benefits to the member countries. The Directors recognized our intent and gave their approval to the proposed modifications on both the finance and program aspects.
From this experience, we can say that there are two types of governing body sessions. An inter-session governing body such as we are having currently, in which the budget is already decided, tends to be practical and predictable. As such, we may consider reorganizing it in a more practical manner with the specific focus on attaining reconfirmation. It does not have to follow the same arrangements as a governing body session that decides a budget. We may, for example, arrange the agenda and schedules to be more compact or shorten the duration to make the session more time- and cost-effective. The Secretariat will study the matter further and come up with appropriate suggestions in due course.
I am also pleased that this meeting fully supported the new initiatives that the Secretariat launched recently. The first one was materializing the idea for a Center of Excellence (COE) which was mooted by the Directors at the Tehran GBM last year. It has now taken a concrete shape with the formation of a pilot COE project on business excellence with SPRING Singapore as the first pilot COE. I thank the Directors for the endorsement of this new initiative.
Our in-country program also proved to be a resounding success. I was very much encouraged with the enthusiastic feedback we received from a group of countries where the programs have been implemented so far. As reported by these countries, this type of in-country program was effective in producing more visible impact as it can train a greater number of participants in one shot and thereby accelerate the competency building of human resources in the concerned member countries. The Secretariat is ready to expand this program whenever and wherever needs exist in the APO region.
The Secretariat will also proceed with the initiative to strengthen project evaluation by introducing the new approach that I described in my report. I would like to reiterate that the new method expects full cooperation from the countries concerned and I am hopeful that we will be able to report to the next GBM the successful results of its implementation.
I am also much encouraged by the presentations by the Directors that provided many insights regarding the position and direction of productivity vis-à-vis the current global financial crisis. We learn that the most significant impact created by the crisis vary from one group of countries to another. For some, the pressing problem continues to be keeping market access. For others, the main struggle is to halt dwindling exports or coping up with repatriated overseas workers. Given the situation, all countries have introduced stimulus package in one form or another, ranging from cash offers, credit facilities or tax reductions, among others.
A stimulus package, however, is essentially an emergency and temporary measure. Despite this situation, we could actually sense that there is a high expectation on productivity. Everyone agrees that productivity is the basis for sustainable solution. Some countries suggested that under the circumstances the next direction of productivity improvement endeavors should focus on public sector productivity, while others pointed out the emphasis should be on productivity of the service sector. Currently, these two topics are up and running. Given this demand, the Secretariat will strengthen further our engagement in the respective areas of public sector productivity and service sector productivity. Overall, I am pleased that the demand on productivity remains strong and high and the member countries value the activities of the APO, especially so in the present challenging time.
To conclude, I thank all APO Directors for their continuing support and commitment to the cause of productivity. The Secretariat too remains conscientious of the need of the member countries and continues to do the utmost to place the member countries’ requirements as the top priority.
I would like to express my special appreciations to the Government of Sri Lanka for hosting this GBM in such a grand and colorful manner. Not only we had the gracious presence of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Labor Relations and Manpower, I was very much impressed by the efforts to publicize the APO and our Governing Body meeting to the Sri Lankan public. Many banners were erected from the airport to the city center. A special, one full page of color supplement about the APO and our Governing Body meeting in major newspapers was also issued in all the three languages of the nation, i.e. Sinhalese, Tamil, and English. They are simply unprecedented. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mr. Mahinda Madihahewa, the APO Director for Sri Lanka, and Secretary, Ministry of Labor Relations and Manpower, for his admirable leadership and generosity. My special thanks also goes to Mr. Upali Marasinghe, the Director of the National Productivity Secretariat of Sri Lanka, and his impressive troops of young, energetic, and ever smiling and cheerful staff members. Their warm smiles and ubiquitous presence in sometimes sober and sometimes dashing and colorful uniforms made our stay truly memorable.
I must also thank Mr. Masato Watanabe, APO Director for Japan, for his chairmanship during the plenary sessions and to Dr. Mahmood Ghanizadeh, the Alternate APO Director for the Islamic Republic of Iran, who chaired the preparatory meeting. I would like to extend my congratulations to Dr. Dong Kyu Choi, APO Director for the Republic of Korea, and to Mr. Somdy Inmyxai, APO Director for Lao PDR, on their assumption to the positions of the APO First and Second Vice Chair, respectively.
Last but not least, I thank the Secretariat staff members who are here for the hard work they have performed to ensure that all the necessary preparations were done well and in time for this meeting.
I wish all directors, advisers, and observers a safe and pleasant journey back home.
Thank you.
