General

The trade ministers' meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) issued a presidential statement on the 23rd, saying that the participating members expressed concern about the challenges of economic recovery after the epidemic and proposed to promote the realization of an open, peaceful, dynamic and flexible regional community by maintaining the multilateral trading system.

The meeting was held in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, from 21 to 22. The statement said that the meeting reaffirmed the importance of the multilateral trading system with the WTO as the core and rules as the basis. Regional economies should strive to improve trade facilitation, avoid unnecessary trade barriers, and support enterprises to establish and maintain open, safe and resilient supply chains, so as to promote the seamless connection of regional economic factors.

Participants also expressed concern about global food security, reiterated that food security would be achieved through mutual assistance, and stressed the importance of maintaining a free, fair, open, transparent, inclusive and predictable trade and investment environment to achieve this goal.

The statement also mentioned the important role of digital technology applications in regional connectivity and pointed out that APEC members will accelerate the implementation of the road map for the Internet and digital economy and build a favorable, inclusive and non discriminatory digital business environment.