On July 18 to 20, 2018, 2018 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum was held in Tokyo, Japan. A total of 224 people participated in the forum, including representatives from 18 APEC economies, China, Australia, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong China, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, USA, Vietnam, and representatives from outside economies, Switzerland, Belgium, Brazil and India. Pan Guangcheng, Executive Director of China Pharmaceutical Industry Association, Song Shujie, Deputy Director of Policy Affairs Department, Wang Hong, International Cooperation Department, Kang Wei, Executive Director of RDPAC, Professor Zhai Xiaomei, Executive Director of Bioethics Research Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Beijing Union Medical College, Zhang Beibei, Deputy Director of the Legal Affairs Department of China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicines & Health Products, Wu Yinglong, China Association for Medical Devices Industry, and other representatives attended the forum.
The forum lasted for three days. July 18 was for a special meeting on the cooperation of stakeholders in the field of biomedicine and medical devices, July 19 for training programs for multi-stakeholders in the field of biomedicine and medical devices and July 20 for a plenary session in the field of medical devices and biomedicine.
Plenary Meeting in the Field of Medical Devices and Biomedicine
Tricia Van Orden, Project Overseer, Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative, announced the opening of the meeting. Diane Farrell, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Asia, delivered the opening speech. Then, Yukiko Mori, President of the Japan Patients Association, Shinsuke Amano, President of Japan Federation of Cancer Patient Groups, and Dr. Yoshitake Yokokura, President of the Japan Medical Association and the World Medical Association, and officials from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare took the floor and signed the Japan Consensus Framework. Subsequently, Dr. Ben Hwang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Profusa (The United States) gave a keynote speech entitled “Business Ethics and Our Future of Health Technology”, analyzing the importance of business ethics from the perspective of SMEs.
Consensus Framework Implementation Strategies: Andrew Blasi, Director, C&M International (Technical Secretariat) first gave a year in review 2018 – A Presentation on Code Implementation and Strategic Assessment Updates.
China Consensus Framework & Collaboration Session: Pan Guangcheng, President of China Pharmaceutical Industry Association introduced the general situation of China’s pharmaceutical industry, the relevant situation of the Chinese Consensus Framework for the Ethical Collaboration in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Sectors to the representatives, and analyzed the steps and strategies to implement the consensus framework. He pointed out that with the development of China’s economy and the increasing aging of population, Chinese people’s demand for health has generally increased rapidly, and the pharmaceutical industry has a large room for growth. Under the guidance and witness of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Health Commission, Ministry of Commerce, China Drug Administration, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People’s Republic of China and other government departments, on July 6, representatives from 25 pharmaceutical, health industry associations, chambers of commerce, academic associations and foundations signed the Chinese Consensus Framework for the Ethical Collaboration in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Sectors jointly drafted by China Pharmaceutical Industry Association, China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicines & Health Products and RDPAC.
Ending summary: Ms. Tricia Van Orden made a closing speech and invited the representative of Chile to announce matters related to the 2019 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum (Santiago, Chile). The three-day 2018 APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum was successfully concluded, and the participants all said that the forum was quite fruitful. Representatives from various economies participating in the meeting shared their practical experience in implementing ethical guidelines, winning support from more stakeholders, establishing and implementing a consensus framework, and said that they will learn from each other’s strengths and strive to implementing the Kuala Lumpur Principles and the Mexico City Principles mentioned in the Nanjing Declaration.
The forum lasted for three days. July 18 was for a special meeting on the cooperation of stakeholders in the field of biomedicine and medical devices, July 19 for training programs for multi-stakeholders in the field of biomedicine and medical devices and July 20 for a plenary session in the field of medical devices and biomedicine.
Tricia Van Orden, Project Overseer, Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative, announced the opening of the meeting. Diane Farrell, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Asia, delivered the opening speech. Then, Yukiko Mori, President of the Japan Patients Association, Shinsuke Amano, President of Japan Federation of Cancer Patient Groups, and Dr. Yoshitake Yokokura, President of the Japan Medical Association and the World Medical Association, and officials from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare took the floor and signed the Japan Consensus Framework. Subsequently, Dr. Ben Hwang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Profusa (The United States) gave a keynote speech entitled “Business Ethics and Our Future of Health Technology”, analyzing the importance of business ethics from the perspective of SMEs.
China Consensus Framework & Collaboration Session: Pan Guangcheng, President of China Pharmaceutical Industry Association introduced the general situation of China’s pharmaceutical industry, the relevant situation of the Chinese Consensus Framework for the Ethical Collaboration in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Sectors to the representatives, and analyzed the steps and strategies to implement the consensus framework. He pointed out that with the development of China’s economy and the increasing aging of population, Chinese people’s demand for health has generally increased rapidly, and the pharmaceutical industry has a large room for growth. Under the guidance and witness of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Health Commission, Ministry of Commerce, China Drug Administration, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People’s Republic of China and other government departments, on July 6, representatives from 25 pharmaceutical, health industry associations, chambers of commerce, academic associations and foundations signed the Chinese Consensus Framework for the Ethical Collaboration in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Sectors jointly drafted by China Pharmaceutical Industry Association, China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicines & Health Products and RDPAC.