AREQUIPA (Peru), May 19 (NNN-ANDINA) — Within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum 2024, Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Elizabeth Galdo chaired the beginning of Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) —a space that will allow the generation of consensus with the aim of developing joint initiatives to boost trade across the region.
She reminded participants about the three priority topics that have been discussed at the forum over recent days: trade liberalization, trade facilitation, trade and inclusion, as well as the advancement of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) agenda.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity to exchange opinions on the priority of APEC Peru 2024. We will be able to reiterate our support for the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its decisions, as well as advance our efforts on the FTAAP agenda, strengthen connectivity and resilient supply chains, plus improve MSMEs’ access to global markets,” Galdo said.
During the meetings held over the past two weeks within the framework of APEC 2024, Peru has put highly relevant topics on the agenda, such as Regional Economic Integration, strengthening MSMEs and their insertion into global value chains, improving supply chain efficiency and connectivity across the region, among others.
In addition to the APEC agenda, the Peruvian minister has held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from South Korea, New Zealand, the United States, Australia, and Hong Kong.
Within this framework, Peru and Hong Kong announced the substantial closure of negotiations for a trade agreement, which implies that both economies reached a consensus on the most complex issues.
Between 2000 and 2023, Peru’s trade with APEC member economies experienced an average annual growth of 10%. Last year alone, the bloc accounted for 67% of Peru’s trade with the world.
Peru is hosting APEC for the third time after the 2008 and 2016 editions.
APEC is made up of: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam.
Together, they account for 62% of world’s GDP, 48% of global trade in goods and services, plus 38% of the planet’s population. — NNN-ANDINA
