APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting Chair Ambassador Katherine Tai delivers concluding remarks during a news conference at the Westin Book Cadillac hotel in Detroit, Michigan on May 26, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

DETROIT, United States - Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministers vowed to overcome shared challenges as they ended their two-day meeting here on Friday.

Challenges include the environment, food security, supply chain disruptions and impacts of the global pandemic.

The statement encouraged the promotion of trade and investment in products that lead to positive environmental outcomes, and instructed senior officials to start developing a new, voluntary, non-binding reference list of environmental goods

Echoing the APEC 2023 theme of "Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All," and the policy priorities of building a more interconnected, innovative, and inclusive APEC region, the meeting discussed "the critical role APEC plays in advancing sustainable and inclusive trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region," said US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, the chair, in a statement.

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The trade ministers reaffirmed their leaders' 2022 commitment in the Bangkok Goals on Bio-Circular-Green Economy and the achievement of the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, said the statement.

It also highlighted the importance of collective support of the multilateral trading system and the necessary reform to improve all the functions of the World Trade Organization.

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Besides, it encouraged the promotion of trade and investment in products that lead to positive environmental outcomes, and instructed senior officials to start developing a new, voluntary, non-binding reference list of environmental goods.