should be, aiming to promote greater economic integration in this important region of the world.
The idea —proposed by the APEC Business Advisory Council two decades ago— is being developed within the framework of the priority set by the
APEC Peru 2024 presidency regarding
trade and investment as instruments for inclusive and interconnected economic growth.
Thus, as host of APEC 2024, Peru has been organizing policy dialogues where member economies will have the opportunity to share their points of view so as to achieve the goal of contributing to a new vision for trade in the Asia-Pacific region.
"The idea of working on a 'Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific' arose in 2004. At that time, we did not have digital economy or AI as part of our daily work, nor did the world imagine it would face a pandemic that brought severe global challenges," said Peru's Senior Official for APEC forum, Renato Reyes Tagle.
"All of this, along with other factors, have contributed to changing the ways of doing business; so, it is timely to work within APEC on a new vision for the Asia-Pacific trade architecture," he added.
"We feel it is necessary to refocus our approach towards the FTAAP as a collective aspiration, especially as we aim to make trade a relevant tool for fostering social inclusion, sustainability, and connectivity," Reyes indicated.
The development of trade policies that include sustainability issues and generate favorable environments to harness the opportunities presented by digital technologies and trade digitalization are also aspects of interest to APEC member economies.