The annual APEC Summit 2023 ends in San Francisco. Peru is expected to host the 2024 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
Major takeaways from APEC Summit 2023 are: –
APEC leaders have shown divisions over the wars in Ukraine and Gaza at the APEC forum while pledging support for reform of the World Trade Organization. The 21 economies that make up the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum – among them Russia, China, the US, and Australia – did not mention either conflict in their final joint communiqué.
Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia in a joint statement said they were among the APEC members who supported the messages of the Riyadh summit, which had called for an immediate end to military operations in Gaza, rejecting Israel’s justification of its actions against Palestinians as self-defense. The three countries also called for an “immediate, durable and sustained” humanitarian truce, and for the unhindered provision of essential goods and services to civilians in Gaza.
A meeting between the US president, Joe Biden, and China’s Xi Jinping aimed at cooling tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Both agreed to resume military-to-military communications, disagreed on the most heated topic between both economies ‘Taiwan’, China to curb the production of fentanyl-related products, Xi asked Biden to lift sanctions and change export control, etc.
MANOA AGENDA for sustainable and inclusive economics was drafted in APEC Summit 2023. Through the Manoa Agenda, the United States committed to working with APEC economies to practically implement APEC’s sustainability and inclusion objectives, including supporting global efforts to address environmental challenges.
APEC Economic Leaders are committed to pursuing and encouraging efforts to triple renewable energy capacity globally through existing targets and policies as well as demonstrate similar ambition concerning other zero and low emissions technologies including abatement and removal technologies in line with domestic circumstances by 2030.
Energy Ministers of PEC economies reached a consensus on an APEC Just Energy Transition Initiative and endorsed the Non-Binding Just Energy Transition Principles for APEC Cooperation, a set of principles geared towards promoting efforts to advance clean energy transitions within the APEC region that meaningfully engage the workforce, private sector companies and investors, and communities equitably and inclusively, building on the La Serena Roadmap for Women and Inclusive Growth.
The inaugural Sustainable Future Forum (SFF) on November 14 convened public and private stakeholders to support global efforts to address environmental challenges through climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience; progress sustainable and inclusive trade and investment; advance resource efficiency; and promote conservation.
Recognizing the urgent threat posed by food insecurity and the need for a continued transition towards more sustainable, environmentally conscious solutions, APEC economies finalized the Principles for Achieving Food Security Through Sustainable Agri-food Systems to encourage more sustainable, inclusive, resilient, and reliable agri-food systems.
Transportation Secretary Buttigieg at APEC Summit 2023 announced the launch of the APEC Green Maritime Collaboration project, which will support the small and mid-sized APEC ports to develop low and zero-emissions capital investment and port management plans.
APEC initiated the development of the Seattle Framework on Gender Equality and Climate Change, an initiative to inform policymakers on different approaches to address the disproportionate impacts of environmental challenges – including climate change, extreme weather, and natural disasters – on women and girls of diverse backgrounds and those living in remote and rural areas.
APEC Summit 2023 has endorsed the Recommendations for Cloud Transformation in APEC, which will promote the accelerated adoption of cloud computing technologies in the region.
APEC Leaders welcomed the San Francisco Principles on Integrating Inclusivity and Sustainability into Trade and Investment Policy, which demonstrate APEC’s intent to promote choices in the development of trade policy that values sustainability and inclusivity. APEC’s Committee on Trade and Investment will advance work to support these principles over the coming years.
APEC members endorsed the 2023 APEC Economic Policy Report on Structural Reform and an Enabling Environment for Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Businesses, which provides recommendations for policymakers to enable businesses, especially SMEs, to contribute toward social goals and incentivize private sector investment toward inclusion, resilience, and sustainability.
The United States leveraged its leadership of the High-Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy to advance priorities on digital inclusion, care infrastructure, and equity and equality in global value chains for women and girls, including commitments to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility workplace policies and increased financial support for women-owned start-ups.
The United States released the report Women in Global Value Chains: An APEC Benchmarking Study, which is designed to help improve the capacity of APEC economies to support procurement from women-owned businesses in global value chains which will promote supply chain resiliency and inclusive economic growth.
APEC economies at APEC Summit 2023 endorsed the Detroit Non-Binding Principles and Recommendations for Equality and Inclusion in Education, Training, and Employment to promote equality and inclusion in workforce development, including through education and labor and social protections, in support of efforts to elevate workers’ voices and promote inclusive workforce education.
The United States, along with Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, convened representatives of Indigenous Peoples from the APEC region to share experiences and views on regional trade with APEC trade ministers in a dialogue at the APEC Ministerial Meeting focused on Indigenous Peoples’ Perspectives on Regional Trade.
Conclusion
The APEC Summit 2023 has ended with a large number of positive outcomes to strengthen the economic relationship between Pacific Rim countries.
