Global and regional economic governance platforms such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) could create peace built on a solid economic foundation that could avert conflict through sustained prosperity and progress, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday.
“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,” President Marcos said during the opening of the APEC CEO Summit at the Geroge Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California, tackling Intentional Equity in Sustainability.
To build cooperation toward intentional equity, Marcos said APEC member economies must also leverage on the bloc’s core value propositions as the premier regional forum in the Asia-Pacific, incubator of innovative ideas, pathfinder for collaborative solutions to emerging trade issues, and platform for forward-looking and responsive economic and trade policies.
They should continue to build on APEC’s partnership with the private sector and be more in sync with the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), and other stakeholders, he said.
“We must act regionally; we must also shrink our intentions globally by finding coherence in our workstreams with those of other economies of the world and other regional and international organizations,” Marcos said.
The President also spelled out key elements that are critical in building collaboration. Among those include the need for continued expansion to accommodate seats to represent all the people, broadening of government partnership with stakeholders, especially the business sector, and watch 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, he said.
President Marcos arrived in San Francisco Tuesday to join other economic leaders for the 30th APEC Leaders’ Meeting. *PND*
