January

Africa is growing, and it is growing fast. By 2050, the continent will account for half of the world's population growth, and by 2100 its current 1.1 billion population could quadruple. African leaders see their fast-growing and young population as one of their greatest resources. Yet this rising workforce faces new challenges, such as a rapidly changing work environment, the rise of technology and the need for new skills. Compounding the problem are existing issues that many African nations grapple with, including poverty, lack of access to education, and lack of quality education services when access does exist.

In many industries, the random urine-sample test is just a routine way of minimizing the risk of worker accidents and employer liability. But one hapless Egyptian bus driver learned the hard way that cheating the test and beating the test are two different matters, the BBC reports. Egyptian media outlets reported that testers asked the driver to confirm that his submitted sample was actually his own. When he said it was, they congratulated him on his pregnancy, as he had submitted a sample from his wife. Egyptian transportation authorities reportedly will change their policies to add blood samples to driver testing

In our 2013 declaration, we recognised the contribution that global data standards can make to enhancing supply chain effiency, and encouraged officials to explore what more can be done to facilitate mutual compatibility amongst data standards frameworks, and the compatibility of economies' framEworks with the use of global data standards. We instruct officials to further advance work on global data standards by developing pilot projects with the participation of the private sector. We also encourage officials to establish a set of policy-based principles or recommendation which could provide reference for future initiatives on global data standards in APEC economies.