Speaking at the APEC CEO Summit 2017 held in the central city of Da Nang onNovember 9, the Philippine President said that member economies reaffirmedtheir belief that the free trade area in the Asia-Pacific region should bedefined by a free trade agreement based on existing commitments in the regionat the APEC 2015 hosted by the Philippines.
At this year meeting, Duterte called on the 21 APEC member economies to continueadvocating stronger and deeper regional economic integration by facilitatingliberalisation of trade and investment.
According to the President, diversity will always pull each member indirections, but regional integration based on open and free trade policies willhelp them optimise opportunities to access global trends, includingcross-border capital flow and digital development.
Like other cooperation mechanisms, APEC is a solid foundation to promotefurther integration, bolstering investment and human connection of the world’seconomic areas.
A stable, connected and integrated infrastructure system should be viewed asthe “backbone” for joint progress, he added, urging the APEC business communityto continue promoting people-to-people connectivity as a critical growth anddevelopment strategy.
The CEO summit is the largestannual event of the business community in the Asia-Pacific region. It is partof the ongoing APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Da Nang, which brings togetherheads of state and some 10,000 delegates from 21 APEC member economies.-VNA