DADALO si Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte kasama ang ibang world leaders sa 2021 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Informal Leaders’ Retreat, mamayang gabi, araw ng Biyernes (oras sa Maynila).

Ayon sa kalatas mula sa Office of the President, dadalo ang pangulo sa prestihiyosong pulong na ito “via video conference.”

“The President will join his APEC counterparts in a high-level discussion on mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and opportunities for collaboration to accelerate economic recovery,” ang nakasaad sa kalatas.

Inaasahan naman na ibi-brief o magbibigay ng tagubilin sina International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at World Health Organization Executive Director Michael Ryan sa mga lider hinggil sa global economic at health responses para sugpuin ang pandemya.

Ang APEC ay kinabibilangan ng 21 member economies gaya ng 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, Pilipinas, Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Estados Unidos, at Vietnam.

Ang Retreat na pamumunuan ng New Zealand ay isa sa “highlights” ng 2021 APEC calendar.

“This is the first time in APEC’s history that leaders have held an extraordinary meeting at leaders’ level, and it reflects our desire to navigate together out of the Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis,” ayon kay New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

“APEC economies have suffered their biggest contraction since World War II over the past year, with 81 million jobs lost,” dagdag na pahayag ni Arden.

Ang paliwanag pa ni Arden, ang sama-samang pagtugon ay mahalaga para mapabilis ang pagbangon ng ekonomiya para sa rehiyon.

“Our region has already responded in significant ways, including removing barriers to the efficient distribution of vaccines and related goods, but there is still a lot of work to do to get through the crisis,” aniya pa rin.

Sinabi ni Arden na magbabahagi ang mga lider ng impormasyon para makabuo ng “collective understanding” sa health response ng rehiyon sa Covid-19, at humulma ng “collaborative economic response.”

“The APEC has been responding to the pandemic collectively with numerous policy tools that address many pain points of the health and economic crisis including vaccines and essential goods and services, structural reform, as well as the resumption of safe and seamless cross-border travel,” aniya pa rin. (CHRISTIAN DALE)