Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo on Friday attended the opening of the 26th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, China.
Prior to the two-day ministerial meeting, about 300 Senior Officials and delegates from 21 APEC member economies, APEC Secretariat, APEC Business Advisory Council, and observers attended the Senior Officials meeting on November 5 and 6.
Participants of the meeting, which carried the theme “Shaping the Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership,” have comprehensively reviewed the progress of cooperations in three priority areas — advancing regional economic integration; promoting innovative development, economic reform and growth; and strengthening comprehensive connectivity and infrastructure development.
They endorsed a number of initiatives on the realization of the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP), connectivity development, and innovative development, economic reform and growth.
These initiatives will be submitted to the APEC Ministerial Meeting and the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting for approval.
Senior officials also endorsed cooperation initiatives in anti-corruption, ocean cooperation, innovation-driven growth, and women’s participation in the economy.
President Benigno S. Aquino III is set to arrive here on Sunday (November 9) to attend the 22nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, to be held on November 10 and 11.
After attending the 2014 APEC Summit, President Aquino will proceed to Myanmar on Tuesday (November 11) to join fellow leaders in the ASEAN summit. (PND)