October 6, 2015

Work performed by Nathan Associates on the role of women in the economy and in addressing climate change received mention at a recent conference hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The conference, held September 22 in Washington, focused on how regional Asian institutions have become increasingly influential in promoting international cooperation and economic development.

Speakers repeatedly praised the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as a premier regional institution, emphasizing that APEC has been highly effective in advancing free and open trade and sustainable growth in the Asia Pacific region.

Since 2013, Nathan Associates has managed the US-APEC Technical Assistance to Advance Regional Integration (US-ATAARI) project, offering technical assistance to the APEC Secretariat and APEC member economies on an array of policy objectives.

Matt Matthews, the U.S. senior official for APEC, described the Healthy Women, Healthy Economies Policy Toolkit, the Women's Entrepreneurship in APEC (WE-APEC) Network, the APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard, and the Women in Transportation initiative as some of the most powerful work that the United States has been involved in through APEC. US-ATAARI has been at the forefront of efforts to improve the economic outlook for women in the region, organizing, and implementing these initiatives in collaboration with U.S. government and international counterparts.

With APEC member economies accounting for approximately 60 percent of global energy consumption, speakers including Matthews and Sean Lindstone, director for Japan and APEC policy at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, emphasized that APEC is a most useful forum for addressing climate change.[i] Matthews

and Lindstone specifically highlighted how some APEC economies have agreed to undergo reviews by fellow APEC members of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that distort the market, undermine development of clean and renewable energy, and encourage wasteful consumption of fossil fuels.

Nathan has played a key role in implementing these peer reviews, collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy to complete a review of Peru's fossil fuel subsidies in 2014, while  also preparing to review the policies of the Philippines and VietNam in the coming months. APEC's nrole as a crucial component of Asia's regional architecture was made clear during the conference, and with the US-ATAARI project, Nathan has positioned itself to be a major player in driving economic progress and reform in APEC's developing members.

Left to right: John Steele, senior director of international government affairs, Eli Lilly & Co.; James Wallar, senior adviser for international development, Nathan Associates; Matthew P. Goodman (moderator), William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy and Senior Adviser for Asian Economics, CSIS; Matt Matthews, U.S. senior official for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation; and Sean Lindstone, director for Japan and APEC policy,  Office of the United States Trade Representative.

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[i] http://www.apec.org/About-Us/About-APEC/Fact-Sheets/Climate-Change.aspx