APEC summit in Thailand to focus on regional economy

Next year Thailand will be hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The Foreign Ministry explains that this year the meeting will be focused on economic recovery and growth in the region following the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Promoting cooperation between member nations is the emphasis of this event, reports Thai PBS. The theme of the summit is said to be “Open, Connect and Balance,” which lays the framework for the goals of the region as it begins to emerge from the pandemic. The Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs pointed out a few topics of interest that will be discussed during the summit. These include digitalization, sustainability and economic fragmentation, and he says that the summit will be a forum in which these issues can be addressed.

“We are determined to use Thai leadership in making sure that the summit will address all these crucial issues and come up with concrete action plans.”

While the APEC is a regional organisation, the member nations make up 21 countries, one-third of the global population and half of all trade, PBS points out. This means that whatever decisions are made at this summit could have substantial impacts on the rest of the world. Last week Thailand took over as the new Chair of the organisation.

The logo of the upcoming summit will be a ‘chalom,’ which is a traditional basket from Thailand that is woven out of bamboo. The chalom is meant to symbolize trade, and the woven bamboo represents interconnectivity between the APEC member nations.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World