Country to host APEC meet

THE PHILIPPINES will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in 2015, a senior government official yesterday announced ahead of next week’s staging of the annual gathering in Russia.

A formal notice, said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Laura Q. del Rosario, will be made during the APEC leaders’ week in Vladivostok from Sept. 2-9.

“During this summit, it will be announced through the leaders’ declaration that the Philippines will host the… APEC summit in 2015,” Ms. del Rosario said in a briefing in Malacañang.

The Philippines will be hosting APEC’s 23rd summit after Indonesia (2013) and China (2014). It last played host in 1996, when the 21-member forum’s gathering was held in Manila and Subic.

The government, said Ms. del Rosario, has yet to decide on a venue for the 2015 event.

For next week’s summit, meanwhile, she said President Benigno S. C. Aquino III — who is scheduled to leave for Russia on Sept. 7 — would likely raise the South China Sea issue during a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

“We just hope that the signal will be sent to say that whatever political issues we have, if we can just separate it from the economic issues… then definitely we can really make sure that… the APEC objectives of really keeping borders open will be achieved,” Ms. del Rosario said.

A longstanding territorial dispute flared up anew earlier this year when the Philippine Navy tried to apprehend Chinese poachers at Scarborough Shoal. Chinese vessels intervened, leading to a standoff and a diplomatic war of words.

APEC leaders, meanwhile, are expected to discuss trade and investment liberalization and regional economic integration, food security, supply chain reliability and increased cooperation.

Businessmen will also take part in the summit, said Ms. del Rosario, with the Philippines to be represented by A. Magsaysay Inc. President and CEO Doris Magsaysay Ho, Jollibee Foods Corp. Chairman and CEO Tony Tan Caktiong and Ayala Corp. Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.

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Source: NMG, BusinessWorld. (29 August 2012)