Strengthening regional connections through APCF 2026

Singapore, 11–13 June 2026

Standards New Zealand participated in the Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC) Annual Meeting and the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Forum (APCF) Mid-Year Meeting in Singapore from 11 to 13 June 2026. New Zealand was represented by Malcolm MacMillan, National Manager, Standards New Zealand, and Ramola Duncan, Secretary of the IEC National Committee of New Zealand and Senior Advisor International Engagement, Standards New Zealand.

The 3-day programme brought together representatives from standards bodies, IEC National Committees, international organisations, government agencies, accreditation and conformity assessment bodies, and industry from across the Asia-Pacific region. It provided an opportunity for New Zealand to contribute to regional discussions, strengthen international relationships, and gain insight into emerging priorities shaping the future of standards and conformity assessment.

 

 

Connecting the Asia-Pacific standards community

The Asia-Pacific Cooperation Forum is a forum of IEC National Committees and IEC Affiliate Country Programme participants from the Asia-Pacific Rim. It was established in 1998, originally as the Asia-Pacific Steering Group, to strengthen the region’s involvement in the IEC. Under the revised 2025 Terms of Reference, APCF remains a distinct IEC-focused forum while coordinating with PASC on areas of common interest.

APCF’s mission is to facilitate and strengthen the engagement of Asia-Pacific IEC National Committees and Affiliate Country Programme participants in international standards development and conformity assessment activities. Its objectives extend across 6 connected areas:

• building strong and active participation
• supporting greater involvement by Associate Members and Affiliate participants
• promoting the benefits of IEC International Standards and Conformity Assessment Systems
• enabling information exchange
• developing regional capability, and
• supporting greater Asia-Pacific representation in IEC leadership and technical roles.

This makes APCF an important regional bridge. It does not replace the IEC’s formal governance bodies, technical committees or National Committees. Instead, it gives National Committees a setting in which to share information, identify common concerns, build relationships and strengthen their capacity to participate effectively in IEC work.

 

 

How APCF works within the IEC system

The IEC is a member-based international organisation in which countries participate through their National Committees. APCF complements this country-based structure by providing a regional forum for cooperation among Asia-Pacific National Committees and Affiliate Country Programme participants.

APCF is led by a Chair, may elect a Vice-Chair, and is supported by a secretary appointed through the IEC Asia-Pacific Regional Centre. Members participate through meetings, working groups, workshops, reports and regional initiatives. The Forum operates flexibly and aims to reach decisions and adopt resolutions by consensus. Full and Associate members have voting rights, while Affiliate Country Programme participants are able to take part in the Forum and its activities in accordance with the Terms of Reference.

APCF normally meets in person during the IEC General Meeting and may hold one or two additional meetings electronically or in conjunction with another regional event. The Singapore meeting reflected that model. It was held alongside the PASC Annual Meeting, allowing the 2 forums to cooperate on areas of shared interest while retaining separate identities and mandates.

 

 

Day One: Joint PASC–APCF workshops

The formal programme opened on 11 June with joint PASC-APCF workshops. The joint format allowed participants from the broader regional standards community and the IEC-focused APCF community to consider issues that cut across organisational boundaries. The opening included remarks from the Singapore Standards Council, PASC and APCF, followed by a World Bank presentation on the World Development Report 2025: Standards for Development.

Standards for development

The World Bank session considered the role of standards in development strategies. The programme described standards as mechanisms that can enable innovation, reduce trade costs and help protect economies against technological, financial and environmental risks. For National Committees, the session offered a wider policy context for standards work and reinforced that standards have relevance not only to technical compatibility but also to economic resilience and development.

Green economy and climate change

The first workshop examined standardisation work relating to the green economy and climate change. Speakers represented the IEC, ISO and National Committees from the region. The session placed standards within the practical challenge of supporting sustainable technologies, climate-related action and the transition of economies and infrastructure. Vimal Mahendru participated in this session in his capacity as IEC Vice-President and Chair of the Standardization Management Board. The session highlighted the growing role of standards in supporting sustainable technologies, climate action and the transition to low-emission economies, themes that are increasingly reflected across both IEC and ISO work programmes.

Emerging areas

The second workshop focused on emerging areas and brought together perspectives from the IEC, ISO, the International Telecommunication Union, national standards bodies and advanced manufacturing. The breadth of organisations represented illustrated the need for coordination where technologies and sector boundaries increasingly overlap. The programme highlighted the importance of maintaining standards systems that can respond to emerging technologies while retaining international coherence.

Day 2: Standards and Conformance Summit

On 12 June, participants attended Singapore’s Standards and Conformance Summit. The Summit examined how standards and conformance can enable innovation, scale digital transformation and support resilient and sustainable markets. It also marked Singapore’s wider standards and conformance programme and brought together senior representatives from international standards organisations, accreditation, government and industry.

Digitalisation, trust and transformation

The first executive panel, titled “The Digitalisation Mandate: Scaling Growth and Transformation with Trusted Standards”, considered the role of standards and conformance frameworks in digital transformation. The programme identified questions relating to artificial intelligence governance, data privacy, cybersecurity and the Internet of Things. Philippe Metzger participated in this panel as IEC Secretary-General, alongside representatives from technology, accreditation and government.

Standards as growth enablers

A second executive panel examined how early engagement in standardisation can support growth in emerging technology sectors. The session positioned standards as a shared foundation that can provide common language, reduce uncertainty and help innovations scale across markets. This framing was relevant for New Zealand because it connected international standards participation with market awareness, innovation and international competitiveness.

Business model workshop and international networking

The Summit programme was followed by a workshop on standards business models, including value-adding services, subscription models and the incorporation of standards into regulation. The evening programme then brought together PASC, APCF and ISO/IEC Joint Strategic Advisory Group participants. Welcome remarks and opening addresses included contributions from the IEC President, Jim Matthews, and the ISO President, Khaled Soufi. This provided a further opportunity for National Committee representatives to maintain relationships with international leaders and regional counterparts.

Day 3: APCF Mid-Year Meeting

The APCF Mid-Year Meeting was held on the afternoon of 13 June following the PASC Annual Meeting. The meeting provided the formal IEC-focused component of the 3-day programme. Its agenda opened with a welcome and confirmation of the agenda and the minutes of the previous meeting, followed by consideration of matters arising.

A substantive agenda item was an update from the Chairs of the IEC Standardization Management Board and Conformity Assessment Board. This gave APCF members a direct connection to developments in 2 important parts of the IEC system: the body responsible for management of the IEC’s standards work and the body responsible for the IEC’s conformity assessment activities.

The meeting then considered reflections and follow-up actions from the joint PASC-APCF workshops. The agenda grouped this discussion around the World Bank report on standards for development, the green economy and climate change, emerging areas, digitalisation tools and services, and standards business models. This structure helped carry the themes from the preceding 2 days into the formal APCF discussion rather than treating the workshops as stand-alone events.

The remaining agenda covered APCF governance and forward planning. Members considered the term of office for the Chair and Vice-Chair, future meeting dates, arrangements for an APCF reception at the IEC General Meeting in Hamburg, and any other business. The meeting therefore combined substantive follow-up on regional standards issues with the practical governance needed to sustain APCF’s work.

The APCF meeting provided an opportunity for National Committees across the region to reflect on common priorities, discuss emerging issues and consider how regional cooperation can continue to support participation and leadership within the wider IEC community.

Why it matters for New Zealand

The Singapore programme reinforced the practical value of APCF for New Zealand. APCF provides access to regional counterparts who face similar participation, capability and succession challenges. It also creates a structured setting in which National Committees can hear directly from IEC leaders and consider how global developments may affect national engagement.

The joint PASC-APCF format was particularly useful because many of the issues discussed, including climate change, digitalisation, emerging technologies and standards business models, extend beyond a single standards organisation. Cooperation allowed participants to consider these issues from a broader regional perspective, while the separate APCF meeting preserved the IEC-specific focus needed by National Committees.

The meetings also demonstrated the importance of relationship-based engagement. Informal conversations and bilateral meetings provided opportunities to understand priorities, raise New Zealand’s visibility and build connections that can support future work. For a smaller National Committee, sustained participation in forums of this kind helps ensure that New Zealand remains connected to developments taking place across both the Asia-Pacific region and the IEC system.

3 themes emerged consistently throughout the programme:

• The increasing importance of digitalisation and emerging technologies
• The growing role of standards in sustainability and climate-related initiatives
• The value of strong regional cooperation in supporting international participation

These themes are likely to continue shaping both APCF discussions and wider IEC priorities in the years ahead.

Looking ahead

Participation in the Singapore programme gave New Zealand a consolidated view of regional and international standards priorities over 3 connected days. The joint workshops provided the strategic and thematic context; the Standards and Conformance Summit demonstrated how standards and assurance systems are being positioned in relation to innovation and economic development; and the APCF Mid-Year Meeting translated these themes into an IEC regional forum concerned with cooperation, governance and future activity.

For the IEC National Committee of New Zealand, the value of the programme lies in the combination of information, relationships and participation. New Zealand was able to engage with IEC leaders and regional partners, observe emerging areas of focus, and remain active in a forum created specifically to strengthen Asia-Pacific involvement in the IEC. Continued engagement in APCF provides New Zealand with an important platform to strengthen regional relationships, build capability, contribute national perspectives and remain connected to international developments shaping the future of electrotechnical standardisation.