Engaging key Apec stakeholders

On Jan 31, there was a collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) to co-host a panel discussion on the topic of “Driving Post-Covid Economic Recovery as Apec Host in 2022”. The lively discussion was deftly directed by Panu Wongcha-um, who was behind the scenes during Thailand’s last hosting of Apec in 2003.

Apec’s visions and goals, also known as the Bogor Goals, were announced in 1994 after Apec Leaders met in Indonesia’s town of Bogor. The Bogor Goals focused on trade and investment, moves to advance the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) agenda, the Putrajaya Vision 2040, and the Aotearoa Plan of Action.

Apec had grown from a forum that focused on trade and investment, to one that include adaptations toward new emerging issues for inclusiveness and sustainability. Hot issues, such as climate change and digitalisation, had become part of the Apec discourse of our time.