PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday highlighted the role of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in preventing conflict through sustained prosperity and progress.
“I wish to emphasize once more that global and regional economic governance platforms such as APEC are geared towards averting conflict because sustained prosperity and progress are only possible in a world that is at peace, which in turn must be a peace that is built on a solid economic foundation,” the President said Wednesday in the US at the opening of the APEC CEO Summit at the George Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.
Marcos’ statement was made amid the wars in Ukraine and Israel and developments in the South China Sea.
He said APEC should also build on its partnership with the private sector and be more in sync with the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and other stakeholders, he said.
He said several key elements are critical in building collaboration, like continued expansion to accommodate seats to represent all the people, broadening of government partnership with stakeholders, especially the business sector, and watching for the escalation of protectionism.
Other critical factors are government intervention in case of market or business failures, and increasing the level of ambition and enlarging the scope of cooperation.
The President is in San Francisco to attend the 30th APEC Leaders’ Meeting.
Marcos also met with business leaders on Wednesday and with American Vice President Kamala Harris.
The two leaders reaffirmed the strength of the alliance between the US and the Philippines and discussed efforts to deepen security ties and expand commercial and economic cooperation, and reiterated their shared commitment to upholding international rules and norms, including in the South China Sea.
Harris also reiterated that the US “stands shoulder-to-shoulder in defending the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the South China Sea.”
She also reaffirmed the US’ defense commitment to the Philippines under Article IV of the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, which states that in case of an “armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea, would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments.”
Harris also emphasized the importance of respect for human rights and labor rights, including safety for trade union leaders.
The President and the Vice President also welcomed the conclusion of the negotiations for the historic “123” civil nuclear cooperation agreement. The negotiations started in Manila in November 2022.
The agreement, which is expected to be signed on Friday, is expected to deepen US-Philippine partnership to build a global clean energy economy and strengthen a shared commitment to improving energy security and advancing the global nonproliferation regime.
Marcos on Friday (Manila time) is set to attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ informal dialogues and working lunch and attend a dialogue with ABAC.
He is also set to meet with Openai Inc. and an interview with CBS News TV’s 60 minutes program.
The President is also expected to meet with executives of Tiktok and Elon Musk of X while in San Francisco before leaving for Los Angeles on November 17.
While in LA, Marcos will meet with the Filipino community and visit the Spandex headquarters.
He will fly to Honolulu in Hawaii on November 18 where he is set to visit the Indo-Pacific Command headquarters and the Daniel Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies.
He is expected to be back in Manila on the 20th.
