APEC pledges to boost trade amid geopolitical challenges

The leaders of the 21-member bloc of the APEC They pledged on Saturday to boost trade and do more to address other economic challenges, closing out the last of the region’s three summits in a week that has been overshadowed by intense geopolitical rivalry.

The summits have been disturbed by the frictions derived from the Russian invasion in Ukraineas well as hot spots such as the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula.

In Cambodia a Southeast Asia summit was held involving China, Japan and the United States, while the major economies of the Group of 20 (G20) met on the Indonesian island of Bali.

The meeting of the APEC was interrupted on Friday when Vice President Kamala Harris called an emergency meeting of allies to condemn North Korea after it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States.

On Saturday, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha tried to refocus attention on economic issues, saying the group had made “significant progress” in agreeing a multi-year work plan for an Asia Free Trade Area. -Pacific (FTAAP).

In a statement by the leaders of the APEC It was stated that the group would uphold and further strengthen a rules-based multilateral trading system, but also recognized the need for more intensive efforts to address challenges such as rising inflation, food security, climate change and natural disasters.

“This year we have also witnessed how the war in Ukraine has adversely affected the world economy,” the statement said, saying most members strongly condemned the war.

At the G20 meeting In Indonesia, members unanimously adopted a statement saying that most members condemned the war in Ukraine, but also recognized that some countries viewed the conflict differently.

The leaders of the APEC agreed with the statement of the G20 referring to UN resolutions deploring Russia’s aggression and demanding its complete and unconditional withdrawal from Ukraine, but also noting the variety of opinions.

“There were other points of view and different assessments of the situation and sanctions. Recognizing that APEC is not the forum to resolve security issues, we recognize that security issues can have significant consequences for the world economy,” the bloc said.

Russia is a member of both the G20 and the APECbut President Vladimir Putin has stayed out of the summits.

Created to promote economic integration, APEC members represent 38% of the world’s population, 62% of the Gross Domestic Product and 48% of trade.

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