DETROIT: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministers vowed to overcome shared challenges as they ended their two-day meeting here on Friday, reported Xinhua.
Challenges include the environment, food security, supply chain disruptions, and the impacts of the global pandemic.
Echoing the APEC 2023 theme of “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All,“ and the policy priorities of building a more interconnected, innovative, and inclusive APEC region, the meeting discussed “the critical role APEC plays in advancing sustainable and inclusive trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region,“ said US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, the chair, in a statement.
The trade ministers reaffirmed their leaders’ 2022 commitment to the Bangkok Goals on Bio-Circular-Green Economy and the achievement of the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, said the statement.
It also highlighted the importance of collective support of the multilateral trading system and the necessary reform to improve all the functions of the World Trade Organisation.
Besides, it encouraged the promotion of trade and investment in products that lead to positive environmental outcomes, and instructed senior officials to start developing a new, voluntary, non-binding reference list of environmental goods. -Bernama
