APEC Peru 2024: Seven ministerial declarations have been approved by consensus so far

18:01 | Lima, Aug. 22.

During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Senior Officials' Meetings (SOM), seven ministerial statements have been approved so far in Peru by consensus among the 21 leading economies, representing a highly positive outcome for the country, Peru's Alternate Senior Official for APEC, Victor Muñoz, indicated on Thursday.

In remarks to Andina News Agency, Muñoz said that during the Third Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM 3), the Ministerial Statement on Energy, the Statement by Health Ministers, and the Statement by Agriculture Ministers on Food Security for the 21 APEC economies were approved.

This is complemented by the Joint Statement by Trade Ministers, the Ministerial Statement on Women and the Economy, the Joint Statement by Women and Trade Ministers, and the Statement by Tourism Ministers.

The Peruvian official stressed that the statements were approved by consensus of the 21 APEC economies, which is "a complete success," considering that two years ago, it was not possible to reach consensus on high-level political statements at APEC.

"On a political level, we can say that APEC is proving to be a complete success, as we are managing to achieve these high-level political pronouncements after a 2-year pause during which consensus statements were not possible," Muñoz stated.

"These three new statements (…), adopted by consensus, are added to the other previous statements that we have also managed to adopt by consensus throughout the APEC year; in total, we have seven ministerial statements adopted by consensus," he reiterated.

11 declarations

In total, he said, 11 statements are expected to be approved during Peru's Presidency of the APEC forum.

The pending statements include those on Small Enterprises, Mining, the Joint Statement by Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministers, as well as the Statement by APEC Economic Leaders.

Peru's Alternate Senior Official for APEC said the importance of having a consensus statement lies in the fact that it represents a clear mandate from ministers to the APEC working groups, which base their work on cooperation projects on which member economies are working.

"In this sense, economies will not face any kind of observations or restrictions in their implementation. These instruments, adopted at the political level, are significant as they support the APEC's core agenda, which is essentially based on cooperation projects," he noted.

Muñoz said the diplomatic strategy, led by the Peruvian Foreign Affairs Ministry and coordinated with all sectors, made it possible to isolate the geopolitical discussion or the geopolitical element from the technical discussions that had previously hindered reaching consensus.

Pending meetings

Peru's Alternate Senior Official for APEC also stated that once the SOM3 concludes this weekend, the Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting, in Pucallpa, and the APEC High-Level Dialogue on Mining, in Arequipa, will still be pending before the Leaders' Summit in November.

Muñoz said Peru is confident that the APEC Economic Leaders' Summit will see the broadest participation and at the highest level (of representation).

"We have that expectation and hope that the leaders of economies will all be here in November, once again reaffirming the commitment to this regional cooperation space, which has proven to be so useful and so practical for addressing challenges that affect us all, in an efficient, swift, and realistic manner," he concluded.

Peru is hosting APEC for the third time after the 2008 and 2016 editions.

21 leading economies

APEC is made up of: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam.

Together, they account for 62% of world's GDP, 48% of global trade in goods and services, plus 38% of the planet's population.

(END) FHG/CVC/MVB

Published: 8/22/2024

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APEC Peru 2024: Seven ministerial declarations have been approved by consensus so far

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