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APEC leaders confirm adherence to free trade, investments

"We note the importance of bilateral, regional and plurilateral agreements, and commit to working to ensure they complement the multilateral trade agreements", the Declaration reads

DA NANG /Vietnam/, November 11. /TASS/. Leaders of the APEC economies adhere to development of free trade and investments in the Asia-Pacific Region, the meeting’s joint declaration reads.

"We <…> determined to take bolder and sustained collective actions to inject new dynamism into APEC cooperation to promote sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth, deepen regional economic integration, realize the full potential of the business sector, particularly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and enhance food security and sustainable agriculture," the document, published on Saturday, reads. "We emphasize the importance of innovation, science and technology as key drivers for economic growth and international trade and investment in the APEC region."

"We are committed to strengthening human resources development, including through education and life-long learning, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), and up-and re-skilling to increase workers’ employability, mobility and preparedness for the digital age; and ensure that active labor market policies can better match the needs of the labor market with various aspects of skills training and development," the APEC leaders said. "We are committed to carrying out further actions to promote an enabling and conducive environment for investment in the Asia-Pacific region."

"We are committed to further actions to increase APEC's competitiveness in the services sector by 2025 and intensifying our efforts to address barriers that inhibit our businesses from competing or trading in services markets," the Declaration reads. "We note the importance of bilateral, regional and plurilateral agreements, and commit to working to ensure they complement the multilateral trade agreements."

"We reaffirm our commitment to build a seamless and comprehensively connected and integrated Asia-Pacific by 2025. In this regard, we welcome economies’ efforts in promoting cooperation to advance policy collaboration, trade facilitation, connectivity, financing, and people-to-people exchanges. We reiterate the importance of quality infrastructure for sustainable economic growth and pledge to promote infrastructure in terms of both quantity and quality through adequate investment and strengthened public-private partnership. We encourage further collaboration and synergy among various connectivity initiatives and work on advancing economic development and integration of sub-regional, rural and remote areas in the region, including efforts to develop safe, secure, resilient, efficient, affordable and sustainable transportation systems."

"We commit to take actions to enhance regional food markets, food standards and supply chain connectivity to reduce costs of food trade, improve market transparency and help both importing and exporting economies adapt to food price volatility," the document reads. "We are committed to carrying out further concerted actions to maintain APEC as a key driver of regional and global economic growth and integration and a major contributor to the regional economic architecture. We welcome members’ initiatives that promote trade and investment in the region. In an increasingly interconnected world, we pledge to enhance synergy and complementarities with other regional and international institutions and fora. In this connection, we congratulate the ASEAN on its 50th Anniversary and commend its contributions to regional development and prosperity. We will strengthen APEC's global leadership in addressing the most pressing economic challenges."

The document is available on APEC's website.