Dr Denis Hew (L), director of the APEC Policy Support Unit, and Dr Alan Bollard, executive director of the APEC Secretariat presenting the latest Economic Trends Analysis Report at a news conference in Beijing Thursday. [Photo: He Shan/China.org.cn]

The latest Economic Trends Analysis Report issued by the APEC Policy Support Unit said that building a more innovative services sector is critical to sustaining economic growth in the Asia-Pacific, as the GDP of the APEC member economies grew only 3.9 percent in the first half of this year, down from 4.3 percent in the second half of 2013.

The report was presented at a news conference during the 2014 APEC Economic Leader's Week on Thursday.

The report recommended that APEC unlock the region's dynamic services sector to stimulate future growth.

"The services sector has been outperforming all other sectors and can be further leveraged to provide higher-income jobs for the Asia-Pacific," said Dr Hew, director of the APEC Policy Support Unit.

He also said that the services sector has become the important driving force in APEC's remarkable economic transformation over the past 25 years.

The Services sector registered the highest average annual growth rate between 1989 and 2009 compared with two other major cornerstones of the APEC economy - agriculture and industry.

Between 1989 and 2009, the output of the APEC member economies grew by 83 percent, of which 60 percentage points were contributed by the expanding services sector, the report found.

APEC can play an important role in fostering the competitiveness of the services sector by promoting innovation, according to the report.

Under the theme "shaping the future through Asia-Pacific partnership," the 2014 APEC Economic Leaders' Week, hosted by China and chaired by President Xi Jinping, commences on Wednesday.

Priorities on the table include deepening regional economic integration, promoting economic reform and innovative development, and building infrastructure investment and comprehensive connectivity.

"Some of these issues will be addressed this week by the leaders through a new Blueprint for Connectivity currently being considered," said Dr Alan Bollard, executive director of the APEC Secretariat.

"Increasing people-to-people connectivity is high on our agenda, particularly facilitating the flow of labor and students across borders as well as ensuring skills and knowledge exchange. This will be critical to leveraging the rapidly evolving services sector in order to boost growth and incomes in the region," added Dr Bollard.