Under the theme “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All,” the US emphasized its commitment to driving forward work on key issues such as supply chain resilience, digital trade, connectivity, opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises, climate change and environmental sustainability, according to a release issued by the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting and received here on Tuesday.
The issues of food security, health, anti-corruption, digitalization, women’s economic empowerment, and supporting historically underserved and underrepresented communities will also be high on the agenda and grounded in the three priorities that emphasize being interconnected, innovative, and inclusive.
"APEC is where we advance economic policies in the Asia-Pacific region to promote free, fair, and open trade and investment and advance inclusive and sustainable growth," said Mike Pyle, the 2023 chair of the APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting.
"The United States is excited to serve as the APEC host of 2023. In our host year we want to be ambitious and innovative in our priorities," Pyle added.
"The theme and priorities reflect what we have heard from member economies and stakeholders to advance a practical economic policy agenda to benefit workers, businesses, and families in all of our economies," he said.
At the meeting convened at the historic East-West Center in Honolulu, the United States proposed several policy areas that APEC officials can focus on in 2023.
In addition to discussing how to structure the institution for results-oriented outcomes, continuous engagements with the private sector, civil society, youth, academics, and entrepreneurs are seen as key to ensuring that APEC 2023 addresses current needs and challenges.
"Obviously, the whole Asia-Pacific region has gone through several really challenging situations in the last few years," United States’ senior official Matt Murray said.
"One of the things that really struck us this year in APEC is just the degree to which there's a lot of interest and a lot of coalescence of views around sustainability as a very important issue in the region, as well as inclusivity," he added.
Murray said that the United States wants to use its host year to continue to advance work on sustainability and inclusivity while also demonstrating some of the best practices in the US on sustainability and on inclusion.
Executive director of the APEC Secretariat, Rebecca Sta Maria, said that the three-day meeting in Honolulu provided APEC member economies with an idea of what to expect from the United States in the coming year.
"It’s encouraging to hear how the vision for APEC 2023 aligns with our past work and initiatives, with the aim to continue progress and push for new initiatives that will further connect the region, support innovation, and ensure inclusivity," Sta Maria added.
APEC officials will meet throughout 2023 in the United States. They will convene in Palm Springs for their first meeting in February and again in Detroit, Michigan, in May for the Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting and other related meetings.
Their final preparatory meeting will take place in Seattle in September. Finally, APEC Economic Leaders’ Week will be held in San Francisco in November 2023.
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Reporter: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Editor: Sri Haryati
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