The Presidency of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will be handed over to Peru in November this year. This will be the third time that Peru will host the regional economic forum, which under two previous Presidencies (in 2008 and 2016) attracted over US$9.4 billion in investment into the country.
This was stated by the Chair of Peru’s APEC 2024 Presidency working group, Ambassador Carlos Chavez-Taffur, who stressed that said Presidency gives the country a strategic position and contributes to the post-pandemic economic reactivation.
Likewise, the future Peruvian Presidency promotes the image of the country as a destination to do business and improves the conditions to implement additional economic-technical cooperation projects financed by APEC.
The ambassador commented that Peru’s trade with APEC economies has grown 12% per year since it joined the forum in 1998, according to the Peruvian Foreign Trade Society (ComexPeru).
In addition, 67% of Peru’s trade is carried out with APEC economies, according to 2022 figures.
The diplomat underlined that, in 2016, the Peruvian regions that hosted the forum generated approximately US$20 million in the sectors of tourism, food, transportation, and security, as well as the creation of temporary jobs.
Thus, during the year in which Peru held the Presidency of APEC, more than 33,000 people —including delegates, business people, and journalists— were accredited to the forum.
Approved projects
Chavez-Taffur also reported that the organization of APEC 2024 has already led to the approval of projects by APEC.
Last May, 10 cooperation projects, equivalent to about US$1.15 million, were approved.
In June, more than 30 additional projects were proposed for APEC financing.
The APEC forum has recently approved the financing of more than US$4.9 million for 36 multisectoral cooperation projects presented by Peru, which constitutes a historic and unprecedented decision since its creation.
On the other hand, he underscored that the President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden, will hand over the APEC 2024 Presidency to Peru next November.
Subsequently, meetings of senior officials and ministers, as well as the long-awaited APEC Economic Leaders’ Summit, will take place from December 2023 to November 2024.
APEC is made up of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam.
Source : Andina