Ministry of Foreign Affairs Attends APEC Summit Preparatory Meeting... "Contributing to Inclusive Growth"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its intention to contribute to 'inclusive growth' within the region by attending the final preparatory meeting for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held this week.

The Ministry announced on the 8th that Lee Seong-ho, Director-General for Economic Diplomacy Coordination, attended the APEC Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) held via video conference on the 5th, where they reviewed the achievements of the past year and discussed future cooperation directions in preparation for the summit (on the 12th) and ministerial meetings (from the 8th to the 9th).

Director-General Lee introduced South Korea's activities aimed at producing outcomes for this year's APEC and mentioned that the country plans to actively contribute to promoting cooperative projects for inclusive growth within the region going forward.

APEC is the largest regional economic cooperation organization in the Asia-Pacific region, operating through policy dialogue and consultations with the goal of economic growth and prosperity. It includes 21 member economies such as South Korea, the United States, China, and seven ASEAN countries, with New Zealand serving as the chair this year.

The APEC summit will be held virtually again this year due to COVID-19, with the theme 'Achieving Prosperity for All People and Future Generations through COVID-19 Recovery.'

At this meeting, member economies evaluated that APEC has maintained the foundation for regional cooperation in health response and economic recovery despite the COVID-19 crisis, and reviewed the preparation status for the upcoming summit and ministerial meetings this week.

Senior ministers agreed on the final draft of the 'Putrajaya Vision 2040 Implementation Plan,' which will outline APEC's cooperation direction for the next 20 years, and decided to submit it as a key outcome of this year's APEC.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.