Duterte to participate in APEC meet via video conference

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte will be joining other world leaders in the 2021 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Informal Leaders’ Retreat on Friday night (Manila time).

According to a statement from the Office of the President, Duterte will be attending the prestigious meeting via video conference.

“The President will join his APEC counterparts in a high-level discussion on mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and opportunities for collaboration to accelerate economic recovery,” the statement read.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Health Organization Executive Director Michael Ryan are expected to brief the leaders on the global economic and health responses to contain the pandemic.

The APEC is composed of 21 member economies: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States of America, and Vietnam.

The Retreat, which will be chaired by New Zealand, is one of the highlights in the 2021 APEC calendar.

“This is the first time in APEC’s history that leaders have held an extraordinary meeting at leaders’ level, and it reflects our desire to navigate together out of the Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

Arden noted that APEC economies have suffered their biggest contraction since World War II over the past year, with 81 million jobs lost.

She explained that responding collectively is vital to accelerate the economic recovery for the region.

“Our region has already responded in significant ways, including removing barriers to the efficient distribution of vaccines and related goods, but there is still a lot of work to do to get through the crisis,” Ardern said.

She said leaders will share information to build on the collective understanding of the region’s health response to Covid-19, and shape a “collaborative economic response.”

The APEC has been responding to the pandemic collectively with numerous policy tools that address many pain points of the health and economic crisis including vaccines and essential goods and services, structural reform, as well as the resumption of safe and seamless cross-border travel.