APEC Philippines 2015 is the year-long hosting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

(APEC) meetings in the Philippines, which will culminate with the APEC Economic Leaders'
Meeting from November 18 to 19 in Manila. It marks the second time the Philippines is playing
host to the APEC, having hosted the event previously in 1996.

Preparation

Preparations for APEC 2015 began with the signing of Administrative Order No. 36, s. 2012,
which constituted the APEC 2015 National Organizing Committee.

On 1 December 2014, President Benigno Aquino III led the APEC 2015 national launch at a
dinner in Makati. The official APEC 2015 logo and theme, "Building Inclusive Economies,
Building a Better World", were unveiled during the event, as well as its
official Facebook and Twitter accounts. The Philippine government allocated approximately 10
billion pesos for the hosting of the APEC meetings.

As part of the security measures for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, the government
declared 1720 November as school holidays and 1819 November as special non-working
days in Metro Manila. Manila has also banned most activities in and around Roxas
Boulevard and Manila Bay, such as fishing, sailing, swimming, and walking.

Following the attacks in Paris, France, both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and
the Philippine National Police(PNP) have placed the red alert status during the five-day event.
The Philippine Army, Air Force, and Navy has deployed their land, air, and sea assets at several
undisclosed positions within Metro Manila.

Fashion

As part of the APEC tradition, custom-made Barong Tagalog clothing were designed for the
economic leaders to wear during the "family-photo" portion of the event to showcase Philippine
fashion and talent.

Event

Makati in Metro Manila hosted the first APEC 2015 meeting, the Informal Senior Officials'
Meeting (ISOM), from 8 to 9 December 2014. Originally slated to be held in Legazpi, Albay, the
meeting was transferred to Makati as storm signals were raised in the former due toTyphoon
Ruby. During the meeting, the Philippines' priorities for APEC 2015 meetings were approved,
namely: investing in human capital development; fostering small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) participation in regional and global markets; building sustainable and resilient
communities; and enhancing the regional economic integration agenda.

The First Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM1) and Related Meetings were held in Clark Freeport,
Angeles, Pampanga and Subic Bay, Zambales, from 26 January to 7 February 2015.
The island of Boracay in Aklan hosted the Second Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM2) and
Related Meetings from 921 May 2015 and the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT)
Meeting from 2324 May.

The Third Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM3) and Related Meetings were held in Cebu City from
22 August to 6 September, followed by the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting from 1011
September. Other ministerial meetings and events were held in various locations in the
Philippines, such as Iloilo City for the Small and Medium Enterprise ministerial meeting on 21
25 September, the Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum on 2223 September, and the
High-Level Policy Dialogue on Food Security and the Blue Economy and Related Meetings from
28 September to 6 October 2015 also in Iloilo City.
Economic Leaders' Meeting
The highlight of the series of meetings, the Economic Leaders' Meeting, was held at
the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay, Metro Manila on 1819 November. On
the evening of 18 November, President Aquino hosted a welcome dinner for the visiting
economic leaders at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Attendees

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is scheduled to represent his country in an observer
status in the Economic Leaders' Meeting.

A week prior to the Economic Leaders' Meeting, Russian President Vladimir

Putin and Indonesian President Joko Widodo, both of whom had initially announced their
attendance, decided not to attend in the occasion citing their attendance to address domestic
issues, particularly the ongoing investigation of Metrojet Flight 9268 and the 2015 Southeast
Asian haze, respectively. Putin was represented by former Russian President, now Prime
Minister Dmitry Medvedev who was also scheduled to visit other Southeast Asian countries.
Widodo was represented by his trade minister Thomas Lembong and Vice President Jusuf
Kalla.

This was the first APEC meeting for Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Canadian
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since their inaugurations on 15 September 2015 and 4 November
2015, respectively.

In addition to their attendance in the Economic Leaders' Meeting, Chilean President Michelle
Bachelet and Mexican President Enrique Pea Nieto were hosted state visits by President
Aquino at the Malacaang Palace prior to the meeting on November 16 and 17, respectively.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APEC_Philippines_2015
Pinay who created lamp that runs on saltwater APEC spotlight

He said there was a role for governments to provide tax incentives to small businesses.

Founder of Alibaba Group Jack Ma said here Wednesday that the global economy needs an
upgraded trade mechanism in the era of e-commerce.

Obama made the call in a speech at the APEC CEO Summit 2015 at the Philippine worldwide
Convention Centre in Metro Manila, reports Xinhua news agency. Investors have offered to buy
her startup, yet Mijeno said shes looking for partners to help build a research-and-development
unit to make power generators fueled by the sea.

Trading is not about trading other products. Regardless of the country or size of the company,
trade is about freedom. Trade is a human right.

China, however, progressed rapidly with the emergence of the internet, eventually building an
infrastructure that was robust and sophisticated.

Light is a basic need, and we should address that, she said.

This year, Alibabas sales in China alone are about US$500 billion, which is nearly on par with
Walmarts. We have helped 12 million businesses, small businesses in particular, use our
platform to sell goods online, to communicate with customers online.

Our main advocacy is we wanted to address the light inequality gap, first in the Philippines by
focusing on the people at the bottom of the pyramid because it comprises 15-20 percent of the
countrys population, Mijano said. The businesses agree, and the governments follow. Thats
why weve been waiting for the DOHA Round for so many years. He personally termed it e-
WTO or WTO 2.0.

People say it would be too complex and require too much negotiation between governments.
Past through the years, what WTO did was for big companies, said Ma. I believe in trusting
and empowering the younger generation because were entering a world that should be
innovative.

CEO Summit in Manila today, Aisa Mijeno, CEO, SALt, spoke with US President Barack Obama
and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma about climate change and sustainable living.

Asked by Obama what else SALT needed to scale up operations, Mijeno cited young
entrepreneurs need for support system, mentorship as well as new funding to mass produce
the lamps. But the Flipina entrepreneur is credited for inventing a lamp powered by salt water.
The same solution is also used to charge mobile phones, Mijeno said during the forum. There I
learned of a story that because of scarcity of public transportation, people had to travel down
the mountain, walk six hours just to get kerosene for their lamps. The Philippines comprises
more than 7,000 islands, most of which have no access to electricity.

Reference: http://www.ledgergazette.com/pinay-who-created-lamp-that-runs-on-saltwater-apec-
spotlight/137996/
Obama lauds salt lamp inventor as exemplary young entrepreneur
UNITED States President Barack Obama on Wednesday lauded Filipina engineer Aisa Mijeno,
who invented lamps powered by saline solution, during a forum for the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (Apec) Summit 2015 in Manila.
After delivering a speech, Obama led a forum during the Apec CEO Summit on Wednesday.
Obama addressed questions to Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, a giant e-commerce firm, and
Mijeno, an engineer and Greenpeace member who founded SALT Philippines.
The project provides lighting to areas without electricity with the creation of lamps that run on
saline solution. The same solution is also used to charge mobile phones, Mijeno said during the
forum.

The danger in (kerosene) lamps is it could case fire accidents. We want to provide a lighting
option that is more cost-effective, more safe, more sustainable and environmentally friendly by
way of a lantern that uses saline solution or ocean water, as a catalyst to generate electricity,
Mijeno said.
Mijeno said her ultimate goal is to power an entire island using just ocean or saline water, in a
nobler bid to address climate change.
The huge impact well be able to contribute when we dive into developing large-scale for the
technology Just imagine, if were able to power a whole island using ocean water. Thats what
were trying to aim for, she added.
Obama, who had been listening intently to Mijeno, remarked: Thats great!
I think Aisa is a perfect example of what were seeing in a lot of countries young
entrepreneurs coming up with leap-frog technology, Obama added.
In introducing Mijeno, Obama called the project a brilliant idea at becoming innovative in
addressing climate change.
Aisa is an entrepreneur here in the Philippines, who launched a start-up around the brilliant
idea, which is selling lamps that run on nothing more than saltwater. Shes an engineer and she
has to explain the physics around this thing, Obama said.
Mijeno said the lamp lights up in saline solution because of chemical reaction that emits light.
She said she first thought of the idea for the project when she had an immersion in a far-flung
community in Kalinga, where there is no electricity.
When I did a personal immersion out in the mountains of Kalinga, I heard their story. Because
of scarcity of public transportation, people have to travel down the mountain and walk hours just
to get kerosene for their lamps. They do that everyday, Mijeno said.
She said the challenge is to look for sources of funding to continue the project.
Mijeno even told Obama, to the laughter of the audience: Right now, were on a critical phase.
Were trying to mass produce a lamp, were just looking for someone to get the project moving.
I feel like Im serving as a matchmaker here a little bit! Obama said, the audience laughing.
Mijenos speech then shifted to the effects of climate change, which she said is not a myth
scientists created to get funding for research.
Coming from the academe background, I just want to emphasize that climate change is real,
its a fact, not a myth that scientists created to order to get funding for grants, Mijeno said.
She said climate change is like cancer which, if left unnoticed, may spread until it is too late for
treatment.
Climate change is like cancer. On stage one, youre cells start mutating, on stage two, you start
feeling the symptoms. If you take it for granted, in stage three you start feeling the symptoms. In
stage four, your health starts declining and everything is too late, Mijeno said.
When she said the Philippines is now in stage two, Obama interjected: Just saying people!
Mijeno urged the need for measures to address climate change, even if it means lighting a lamp
using salt instead of gas. CDG

Reference: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/131600/obama-lauds-salt-lamp-inventor-as-
exemplary-young-entrepreneur
Obama Calls on Beijing to Stop Construction in South China Sea

MANILA President Obama called on China on Wednesday to halt its construction on

reclaimed islands in the South China Sea, raising the contentious issue at the start of a two-day
economic summit meeting at which he and other Pacific Rim leaders also discussed trade
and climate change.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with President Benigno S. Aquino IIIof the Philippines, Mr.
Obama directly addressed the disputed Chinese claims to islands in the critical waterway. He
urged the Chinese to stop military activities there and endorsed a process of arbitration to settle
differences between Beijing and its Southeast Asian neighbors.

We agree on the need for bold steps to lower tensions, including pledging to halt further
reclamation, new construction and militarization of disputed areas in the South China Sea, Mr.
Obama said.

The United States takes no position on the territorial claims of various Asian governments in the
region, but Mr. Obama has aggressively sought to defend the right of free navigation in the
South China Sea, a vital route for commerce and trade. On Tuesday, he announced $250
million in military contributions to several Asian nations to support their efforts to stand up to
China.

he presidents comments on Wednesday came at the start of the Asia-Pacific Economic

Cooperation, or APEC, summit meeting, at which leaders from 19 regional economies have
gathered for discussions about growth and trade.

Later in the evening, Mr. Obama joined the other leaders in a tradition at the APEC meeting:
donning clothes of the host country. This year, Mr. Obama and his counterparts wore a sheer,
off-white linen shirt called a barong Tagalog, by the Filipino designer Paul Cabral, according to
local news media.

The formal mens version has a four-button placket, golden embroidery and is usually worn
buttoned to the neck, which has a pointed collar. The womens version is similar but has an
open neckline.

Mr. Obama and the other leaders posed in the barongs before sitting down for dinner and
entertainment, which included a rendition of On a Clear Day, by Jessica Sanchez, one of the
finalist on season 11 of American Idol and a former member of the cast of Glee. Ms.
Sanchez, who is from California, is the daughter of a Philippine woman.

During the day, Mr. Obama participated in a series of working sessions. The centerpiece of the
discussions on Wednesday was the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was agreed to recently by
a dozen countries, including the United States. Mr. Obama hailed the deal at a meeting with
other leaders.

This is the highest-standard and most progressive trade deal ever concluded, he said,
standing beside Michael B. Froman, the United States trade representative, who helped
negotiate the pact. It includes strong protections for workers, prohibitions against child
labor and forced labor. It has provisions to protect the environment, to help stop wildlife
trafficking, to protect our oceans.

The agreement still faces an intense debate in the United States as Congress considers it. But
Mr. Obama expressed confidence that it would be approved.

The fact that everyone here has stepped up and made some hard decisions that are going to
pay off for decades to come I think is testimony to the vision that was reflected, he said.

Mr. Obama also used the summit meeting to push for his climate change agenda, telling a
group of chief executives that the world must face the urgent and growing threat of climate
change before time runs out.

He said the economic and social threats from climate change should be of particular concern to
the people of Southeast Asia, where many low-lying islands could face disaster as sea levels
rise.

Few regions have more at stake in meeting this challenge than the Asia-Pacific region, he
said.

Mr. Obama is scheduled to travel to Paris at the end of the month for a climate change summit
meeting that aims to reach an accord dedicating many nations to reducing their carbon
emissions to slow global warming.

The president hosted a discussion of climate change at the chief executives forum along with
Jack Ma, founder of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, and Aisa Mijeno, a Filipino entrepreneur
who invented a lamp that runs on saltwater.

In response to a question about her lamp from Mr. Obama, Ms. Mijeno said that it provided
about eight hours of light, as well as power to a USB port for charging a phone.

And all you need to do is you just have to replenish the saltwater solution, she said, and then
you have another eight hours of lighting.

Mr. Ma offered the president the perspective of a very large company that, he said, spends 0.3
percent of its revenue to encourage young people to find creative ways to help the environment.
He said that when he was 12, he almost drowned in a lake, and that now that lake was dry.

If we do not care about this earth, we do not care about the water, food, environment, I think
nobody can survive, whether youre big or small, Mr. Ma said. So this is the concern. This is
the worry I have. Mr. Obama was scheduled to end the day with a working dinner to further
discuss economic issues.

Reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/world/asia/obama-apec-summit-south-china-
sea-philippines.html
Pinay scientist creates lamp that runs on saltwater

MANILA To light up the rest of the Philippines sustainably was the vision of Filipina scientist
Aisa Mijeno when she made the Sustainable Alternative Lighting (SALt) lamp.

The SALt Lamp is an environment-friendly and sustainable alternative light source that runs on
saltwater, making it suitable to those who live in coastal areas.

It can also function well in remote barrios. With just two table spoons of salt and one glass of tap
water, this ecologically designed lamp can run for eight hours.

It is made of tediously experimented and improved chemical compounds, catalysts, and metal
alloys that when submerged in electrolytes will generate electricity, Mijeno explained in an
interview with ABS-CBN.

Because of its inspiring vision and ground-breaking innovation, the SALt lamp has received
various awards and recognition from organizations in the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, and
South Korea.

It has also won in several competitions here and abroad.

Safe alternative to traditional lamps

According to Mijeno, the idea behind the SALt lamp is the chemical conversion of energy. It
utilizes the scientific process behind the Galvanic cell, but instead of electrolytes, the SALt lamp
uses saline solution, making it harmless and non-toxic.

Compared with kerosene lamp, the SALt lamp is also a lot safer, Mijeno stressed since it does
not have components and compounds that may spark fire. Moreover, it does not emit toxic
gases and leaves minimal carbon footprint.

This isnt just a product. Its a social movement, she said.

Although the SALt lamp is not yet being mass-produced, Mijeno and her team have been
working intensively with non-government organizations (NGOs), local government units (LGUs),
and charitable foundations, among others.

These organizations aid in the purchase and distribution of the SALt lamps to remote
communities where electricity is scarce, or worse, not available.

A sustainable light for the Philippines

Mijeno said that her experience working with an environmental organization made her realize
the need for an alternative source of light, especially in rural areas of the Philippines.

I used to be part of Greenpeace Philippines and did personal immersions/volunteers across

rural communities, and there I learned so many things. Most of these people are so poor and
underprivileged that they endure long hours of walking just to get kerosene for their lamps,
Mijeno recalled.

Currently, for every SALt lamp that is bought, one lamp is given to a selected family.

Our main focus is on the island communities that do not have access to electricity and have no
financial capacity for acquiring alternative source of electricity, Mijeno added.

Reference: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/gadgets-and-tech/08/02/15/pinay-scientist-
creates-lamp-runs-saltwater