LIMA, November 15. /TASS/. Leaders of countries and territories that make up the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization will gather in Peru’s capital Lima for the organization’s 2024 summit and other events, held under the motto, "Empower, Include, Grow."

The leaders of APEC economies will meet for informal conversations in Lima on November 15. On the following day, the official part of the summit will be held, resulting in the adoption of the final declaration. The Russian delegation is led by Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has already arrived in Lima. According to the White House, he is expected to meet with outgoing US President Joe Biden.

Other top guests of the summit include Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and other leaders.

Summit topics

According to Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, head of the Russian delegation to the summit, APEC has successfully maintained its status as a non-politicized platform for discussing the region’s economic issues.

Lifting trade barriers will be among the topics discussed, Overchuk told reporters, adding that the organization’s ambitious goal of organizing a free trade zone in the region persists as well. He also named transport routes, access to electricity for population of the region, digitalization and AI among other issues that are likely to be brought up.

"This [access to electricity] is still a traditional problem in this region. It is expected that both renewable energy and the shift to green energy will be discussed, there are many issues here as we say always and everywhere that this shift should be produced without additional problems for developing countries, countries with low income, that the financing of this shift should not bring them to a new financial bondage," Overchuk has told reporters.

Besides, "we will listen to what will be said about new hydrogen energy," he said.

"Digitalization issues will surely be discussed, from the viewpoint of business, from the viewpoint of creating paperless technologies that support the movement of goods, including cross-border movement of goods," the head of the Russian delegation added.

Peruvian presidency

Peru’s APEC Senior Official Renato Reyes said his country has hosted more than 270 APEC events during the country’s presidency in the organization in 2024. Around 20 more are scheduled to take place this week.

The group’s participants adopted 15 documents this year, with four more expected to be signed later this week.

Also, a joint statement by APEC foreign and economic ministers and the final declaration of APEC leaders are scheduled for adoption during the upcoming summit.

About APEC

APEC is a regional intergovernmental forum that was established in 1989. Its main objectives are to strengthen economic integration, expand trade, and increase employment in the region.

APEC comprises 19 economies and two Chinese territories - Hong Kong and Taiwan, therefore APEC members are usually referred to as "economies." The secretariat, headquartered in Singapore, performs administrative and technical functions. Russia joined APEC in 1998.