(Eagle News) — After the 33rd ASEAN Summit in Singapore, President Rodrigo Duterte will fly straight to Papua New Guinea to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meeting.
The ASEAN Summit starts on Tuesday, Nov. 13 and ends on Nov. 15. The following day, Nov. 16, is the start of the APEC summit which will end on Nov. 18.
In a press briefing, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella said that President Duterte will join 20 leaders and representatives of the economies of APEC in Port Moresbey, Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea, which is home to around 40,000 Filipinos, will be hosting the APEC Summit for the first time this year. It was three years ago, in 2015, that the Philippines last hosted the Summit.
“The President joins other leaders in affirming commitment to an international rules-based regime support of the multilateral trading system embodied by organizations like the World Trade Organization,” Abella said in a press briefing on Monday, Nov. 12.
“This is a new era for Filipino engagement on the world stage. The Asia-Pacific region represents the epicenter of global growth, making APEC the most important economic platform in the world,” Abella stressed.
He said that the two summits –ASEAN and APEC — that will be attended by the President are both important to the security and economy of the Philippines.
The DFA official also said that aside from attending the APEC summit, the President will also meet with members of the Filipino community in Papua New Guinea.
“There’s a planned [Filipino community] meeting with the approximately 40,000 Filipinos based there. He is scheduled to meet up with them,” Abella said.
He said that the Philippines provides important service to the people of Papua New Guinea, “foremost of which is agricultural expertise assisting local rice growers to improve yields and to maximize efficiency.”
Abella explained that during the summit, President Duterte would stress the importance of support for mechanism for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“The President conveys his support for mechanisms that will enable our MSMEs or MSMEs as they call it to take advantage of digital and online platforms to benefit their enterprises and to bring their products and services overseas,” he said.
Duterte will also be attending the APEC Business Advisory Council meeting, and join a dialogue with noted business leaders and other APEC leaders at the Pacific Island Forum.
“There will be a lot of dialogues with other countries,” he said.
Abella, however, did not give details about the scheduled dialogues of the President with other world leaders.