President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is set to attend the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in San Francisco, California from November 15-17, which is the culmination of the year-long chairmanship and hosting by the United States of the leaders’ meeting this year.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Charles Jose said that President Marcos’ attendance to the APEC Summit is important for the Philippines as it served as the country’s primary forum for official engagements with other economies in the Asia Pacific Region.
“As we all know, the Philippines is a founding member of APEC in 1989. APEC is important to the Philippines because it is the primary forum for our engagement with the other economies on the Asia Pacific region,” Jose told the Malacañang Press Corps (MPC) in a press briefing on Tuesday.
Jose also emphasized that 11 of the Philippines’ top 15 trading partners are APEC members.
He added that APEC economies pay a significant role in the Philippines, accounting for 85 percent of the country’s total exports and imports, and approximately 56 percent of the foreign direct investments that entered the country.
The foreign affairs official emphasized that the attendance of President Marcos to this year’s APEC Leaders’ Summit in the US will be his second with the previous one held in Thailand, November last year.
Jose said that this year’s APEC theme “Creating a resilient and sustainable future for all” have been focused “on building sustainability, inclusivity and resilience toward a peaceful and prosperous APEC region.”
He also emphasized that among several successful outcomes from APEC work in 2023 included the adoption of agreements that would advance food security, energy security, human resource development, digitalization and supply chain resilience.
“This year’s APEC theme aligns with the economic agenda of the administration of President Marcos Jr., the Philippine Development Plan and the administration’s 8-point socioeconomic agenda and visage an economic transformation for a prosperous, inclusive and resilient Philippines by prioritizing the creation of more quality and green jobs,” he said.
After participating in the APEC Leaders’ Summit, President Marcos will also be making working visits to Los Angeles, California and Honolulu, Hawaii where he will meet with business leaders and the Filipino Community.
Jose said that this visit would add layer of cooperation between the US and the Philippines. | PND
Photo Courtesy of PCO