ASIATODAY.ID, SAN FRANCISCO – The Asia Pacific region plays a big role in determining the future of global growth over the next 30 years.
United States Vice President Kamala Harris conveyed this at the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) forum in San Francisco, United States, on Thursday, November 16 2023.
“Currently, 21 APEC countries contribute more than 60 percent of global Gross Domestic Product. We control half of global trade. “Asia Pacific is projected to be the largest contributor to global growth over the next 30 years,” said Haris.
According to Haris, collaboration between government and business actors is absolutely essential to overcome crucial and urgent challenges. Therefore, the themes taken in this year’s APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) discussion are Equity, Sustainability and Opportunity.
Post-pandemic recovery offers important opportunities for APEC members to promote inclusive growth.
“We are faced with three main issues. First, the climate crisis requires decisive collective action. Second, emerging technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence, have great opportunities for scientific and technological progress, but need to pay attention to ethical governance and its impact on energy “work. APEC can be the main platform for sharing knowledge in this area. Third, economic inclusion is very important. The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of marginalized groups. Inflation, rising costs of living, climate uncertainty and technological trends are also affecting these groups,” said the Chair APEC Business Advisory Council Dominic Ng, of East-West Bank.
Meanwhile, APEC San Francisco is a milestone in the history of the formation of the ASEAN Caucus in the APEC Business Advisory Council, which allows ASEAN’s voice to be heard louder in various forums including APEC.
ASEAN is a strategic region that has strong capital to become the center of world growth. The ASEAN Caucus can be an important part of strengthening energy transition initiatives, achieving carbon neutrality, and accelerating the implementation of cross-border digital payments through cooperation with financial institutions.
The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Airlangga Hartarto, also attended the forum, representing the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. The forum was attended by the Prime Minister of Singapore and the leaders of 21 other APEC member countries.
Airlangga’s presence at the forum shows Indonesia’s very strong commitment to supporting the achievement of prosperity and sustainable economic growth in the Indo-Pacific region.
Regarding Sustainability, Coordinating Minister Airlangga believes that business people involved in APEC need to strive for the realization of Net Zero Emission (NZE) 2060 through accelerating the energy transition, ending the use of coal, and developing environmentally based infrastructure.
Coordinating Minister Airlangga is of the view that Indonesia needs to invite all parties to collaborate through the G to G scheme; G to B; and B to B to create a conducive investment climate, blended finance, and other concrete collaborations to realize shared commitments and goals in the Indo-Pacific region. (AT Network)
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