​​​​​​​​Asi​a-Pacific Economic Cooper​ation (APEC)​​​​​​

APEC was established in 1989 and now comprises 21 countries, including Malaysia. It is an international forum that provides a platform for discussion and economic cooperation among the countries of the Asia Pacific region.​​​​​​​​​​

APEC Goal

APEC's main goal is to create free trade and investment in accordance with the 1994 Bogor Declaration, taking into consideration the different levels of development among member countries. Three main focus of APEC include: ​

1. Trade and investment liberalization;
2. Trade facilitation; and
3. Economic and technical cooperation.
​ ​

​APEC: Transportation Working Group (APEC TPTWG)​

Ministry of Transport involvement in APEC cooperation consists of two main areas, namely Transportation Working Group Meeting (TPTWG) which is held regularly twice a year, and Transportation Ministerial Meeting (TMM) which held once every two years. TPTWG meeting will start with the Head of Delegation Meeting (HODs), which will provide guidance on any issues that would be raised in the Expert Group and Sub-Group Meeting. There are 4 Expert Group Meeting; i.e. Aviation Experts Group (AEG), Land Experts Group Meeting (LEG), the Maritime Experts Group Meeting (MEG) and the Intermodal and Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Experts Group Meeting (IIEG).​​​​

Transport Working Group aims to achieve the liberalization of transport services and effort to improve the safety of APEC transport systems that will promote economic development in the Asia-Pacific region. It also seeks to balance the safety and environmental requirements with the trade facilitation initiative. Efforts are also focused on initiatives to simplify the rules of domestic policy, the development of inter-modal supply chain and a secured transport activities. Simultaneously, similar measures were also taken by other APEC members to strengthen the security of all modes of transport which include land, sea and air.​​​

The 41st APEC-TPTWG was held from 26 - 29 May 2015 in Jeju, South Korea.​​​ The 42nd APEC-TPTWG was held from 4-7 April 2016 in Papua Guinea. Malaysia will host the 43rd APEC-TPTWG at Royale Chulan Hotel, Kuala Lumpur from 6-9 September 2016.

​APEC: Transportation Ministerial Meeting (APEC TMM)​​​​​​

In addition, the Transport Ministry is also involved in the Transportation Ministerial Meeting held once every two years. The 8th APEC Transport Ministerial Meeting (TMM8) was held from 4 to 6 September 2013 in Tokyo, Japan. The 9th APEC Transport Ministerial Meeting (TMM9) will be held in October 2015 in Cebu, Philippines. This Ministerial meeting will be attended by the Minister or Deputy Transport Minister with the Senior Officers of the Ministry.​

This meeting provided the opportunity to the Asia and Pacific Transport Ministers to meet and discuss transportation cooperation issues. In the meantime, it also provides opportunities for relevant countries to discuss information sharing, capacity building as well as inter-state coordination in related matters including transport safety to ensure smooth and efficient regional and international transportation services.​

Women in Transportation Forum on 4 September 2013

Deputy Transport Minister with Transport Minister of Singapore during the 8th TMM on 5 September 2013

Deputy Transport Minister with Transport Minister of Indonesia during the 8th TMM on 5 September 2013​

​APEC: Women In Transport Data Framework and Best Practices Initiative

The APEC Women in Transportation Data Framework and Best Practices Initiative (APEC WiT Initiative) was launched during the APEC Transport Ministers Meeting held in October 2015 in Cebu, Philippines. The United States, together with key partners Philippines and Vietnam, has championed the agenda through research, funding and development of the APEC Women in Transport Data Framework and Best Practices Report with the aim of developing and implementing actions that advance opportunities for women throughout the transport and logistics sector.

Malaysia’s participation in the initiative was approved during the APEC Transport Working Group meeting in Papua New Guinea on 6th April, 2016, hence the Data Initiative Pilot Project for the Port Sector in Malaysia was launched, spearheaded by the Ministry of Transport. The Malaysia Institute of Transport (MITRANS), UiTM was then appointed to lead the research and execute the project supported by Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Malaysia (CILT-M) and TalentCorp Malaysia.​

The APEC WiT Initiative has identified five pillars as strategic thrusts namely Education, Entry into the Sector, Retention, Leadership, as well as Access and Use. Malaysia’s pilot project focused on the Leadership pillar which looked into investment in women’s professional growth in the transport sector, increased opportunities for women to become transportation leaders and greater recognition of women as leaders in the sector. Acknowledging the country’s recognition as a Maritime Nation, the project team opted to focus on the ports sub-sector as it is considered the most challenging sub-sector for women.

Throughout the past three years the team has been working hard to ensure successful completion of the project and has been reporting its progress in every APEC Transport Working Group meeting. The team has also successfully documented the processes involved in developing women leaders in ports in the form of a “Tool Kit: Advocating for Leadership through Mentoring Programme within the APEC Framework of Women in Transportation” so that it can be emulated by other transport and logistics sectors not only in Malaysia but will become a source of reference for other APEC economies.

A summary video about APEC Women In Transport and Mentoring programme: At a Glance can be found below.

The toolkit is downloadable at the following link :