Cherdchai Chaivaivid (left), director-general of the International Economic Affairs Department of Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat on Sept 8 brief members of the Asian News Networks about Thailand hosting APEC later this year. (ZOOM SCREEN GRAB / CHINA DAILY)

Member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum need to work to reconnect and revive business, with sustainable and inclusive recovery a top priority, an APEC senior official from Thailand said on Sept 8. 

“When you take the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic into the grand scheme of things, it is vital for APEC to address how to encourage and make sure that we have more people travel and we have more people bringing business across borders,” said Cherdchai Chaivaivid, director-general of the International Economic Affairs Department of Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

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COVID-19 reminds regional economies that they might not be fully equipped to face disruptions, which is why they need to think about how to address the issues of inclusivity and sustainability, said Cherdchai.

Cherdchai, an APEC senior official for Thailand, was speaking at an online briefing held for members of the Asia News Network, an alliance of national daily newspapers in Asia. China Daily is the organization’s only China representative. 

Though inclusive and sustainable growth has been a key topic since 2003, there is still a lack of discussion on issues like climate change, said Cherdchai Chaivaivid, adding that APEC might not have done enough to address sustainability across the whole spectrum of the conversation

Thailand, the host of APEC 2022, will hold the annual APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on Nov 18-19 in Bangkok. The theme for this year is “Open. Connect. Balance”, highlighting the priorities to make APEC open to all opportunities, connected in all dimensions, and balanced in all aspects. 

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Noting that APEC members collectively account for 38 percent of the world’s population, 62 percent of global GDP and 48 percent of global trade, Cherdchai said APEC remains relevant and useful in terms of regional economic cooperation. 

For example, the number of free trade agreements across the Asia-Pacific region increased from 91 in 2008 to 186 in 2018, Cherdchai said, adding that the average applied tariffs on APEC economies have also been reduced – to 5.2 percent in 2019 from 16.9 percent in 1989 when APEC was established. 

Containers on ships are unloaded at Bangkok Port in Bangkok, Thailand, Oct 15, 2021. (SAKCHAI LALIT / AP)

“Most interestingly, we managed to address the issue of poverty,” said Cherdchai. From 41.7 percent in 1990, the poverty rate was reduced to just 1.8 percent across the Asia-Pacific region in 2015, he said. 

In the past, almost all APEC host countries have put great emphasis on connectivity, regional economic integration and the multilateral system. 

Though inclusive and sustainable growth has been a key topic since 2003, there is still a lack of discussion on issues like climate change, said Cherdchai, adding that APEC might not have done enough to address sustainability across the whole spectrum of the conversation.

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While the forum has around 38 working groups and committees, “none of them deals exclusively with the climate agenda”, said Cherdchai. 

He said Thailand is working to finalize the Bangkok Goals on Bio-Circular-Green Economy, for leaders’ consideration at the November meeting. The aim is to reaffirm APEC’s commitments and actions on sustainability and provide a way forward. 

Together with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Cambodia and the G20 summit in Indonesia, Cherdchai said this is the first time that Southeast Asia will host three regional meetings successively. He said Thailand has been working closely with Cambodia and Indonesia to make sure they can align with the key messages, such as post-pandemic recovery, new economic engines and inclusive growth. 

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Expecting economic growth in the APEC region to slow this year, the APEC Policy Support Unit in August downgraded its GDP growth projection for the region to 2.5 percent in 2022 from its earlier forecast of 3.2 percent. The forecast for next year has also been downgraded, to 2.6 percent from 3.4 percent. 

The policy support unit attributed the downgrade to soaring inflation, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and heightened uncertainties, on top of the continuing impact of the pandemic and virus mutations that are draining resources. 

Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat, also director-general of the Department of Information, said invitations have been sent to leaders of all other APEC economies. 

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“The ASEAN meeting, G20 and APEC (summits) offer a chance for Southeast Asia as a region to play a leading role in important international forums ... where world leaders will converge and have conversations (about) not only Asia-Pacific but also beyond,” said Tanee. 

kelly@chinadailyapac.com