The leaders of the Pacific Rim countries gathered at the much anticipated Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in Lima, Peru from 15-16th November, 2024. The APEC 2024 forum brought together 21 economies that account for nearly 40 percent of the global population, almost half of the global trade and approximately 60 percent of global GDP. The economic forum brought to fore senior officials, ministers and leaders who aim to tackle core challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region; including climate change, sustainable energy solutions, digital economy transition, and trade facilitation. Leaders and ministers discussed policies that could help economies overcome these current challenges while promoting innovation and inclusiveness. APEC 2024 constituted more than 160 meetings that took place across five cities in Peru.
This is the third time that Peru is hosting the APEC forum after hosting it in 2008 and 2016 and with its chairmanship of the forum, it aimed to work towards greater economic and technical cooperation arrangement that would promote prosperity and well-being for all the people in the Asia-Pacific region.
APEC 2024 Theme and Declarations Released
The President of Peru Dina Boluarte welcomed the leaders from the Pacific Rim countries for the APEC 2024 that was themed at” Empower. Include. Grow, and constituted three priorities;
- i) Trade and investment for inclusive and interconnected growth;
- ii) Innovation and digitalization to promote transition to formal and global economy and
iii) Sustainable growth for resilient development
The meetings that formed the part of APEC 2024 included Economic leaders’ meeting (AELM); Nine Ministerial Meetings, highlighting the Meeting of Foreign Affairs and Trade (AMM), Five meetings of Senior Officials (SOM), Meetings of the Business advisory Council (ABAC) and the Consortium of Study Centers (ASCC) of APEC. The Summit also witnessed the APEC Small and Medium Enterprise Summit, the CEO Summit organized by the private sector that witnessed an open dialogue between regional leaders and business heads. A platform was also attributed to the indigenous peoples wherein their representatives could meet the ministers and explore inclusive growth and economic empowerment from their perspectives.
The APEC Economic Leaders’ Summit took place from 15th November onwards wherein Peruvian President Boluarte inaugurated the event and called for stronger ties with the world’s leading economies. Emphasizing the Summits’ mission to foster unity, she also stated that “We need greater collaboration and understanding and less fragmentation, Our summit can contribute today to strengthening multilateral cooperation in a context where the various challenges we are facing are increasing the levels of uncertainty regarding the immediate future.”
It is with this very idea that Peru had presided over such an important space and contributed to strengthening of the trade relations between the member countries of the region by the adoption of 11 ministerial declarations, eight technical-policy instruments and the Declaration of the 31st APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
The Declaration of the 31st APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting reflected the forum’s vision to build a prosperous, peaceful and resilient Asia-Pacific community, empowering the most vulnerable populations and economic actors to receive the benefits of the global economy.
On the closing day of the Summit, Peruvian President stated “Today, we gather in spirit of collaboration and unity, guided by our shared vision, fostering a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future for the Asia-Pacific region”. She further said that “I encourage you to participate in today’s discussions with a forward-looking perspective, addressing how we can not only maintain APEC’s relevance”, but also strengthen it in the face of global challenges”. Expressing optimism, she reiterated that “I look forward to the fruitful exchange of ideas that will shape the road ahead.”
