KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia will convene the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) on November 20, 2020 virtually — the first in APEC history — amidst a backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the host of APEC 2020, Malaysia is resolute to ensure the success of APEC meetings in 2020.
The AELM will be chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and will be participated by all 21 APEC Economic Leaders, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said in a statement today.
The AELM is expected to launch the region’s Post-2020 Vision — the key policy document that is set to replace the Bogor Goals, which reach maturity at year-end.
Malaysia, as the lead penholder for this crucial document, is working collaboratively with all APEC economies to finalise this document, in the coming weeks.
This document will become the primary source of reference for the region, in years to come.
Malaysia has also commenced work on the Leaders’ Declaration, a document of critical importance which has unfortunately remained elusive for the past two years consecutively to reach consensus.
In 2018, the Leaders were not able to come to a consensus on the Leaders Declaration and in 2019, the AELM was cancelled due to the domestic situation in Chile.
It has therefore become even more critical for Malaysia to assert regional leadership and work towards delivering the Leaders’ Declaration this year, during the AELM in November.
Preceding the AELM, Senior Minister cum MITI Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali will be chairing the APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) on November 16, 2020.
The AMM serves as a closing event for all Ministerial Meetings for the year, a platform to factually stocktake the status of work undertaken in the region.
Malaysia is making history by transforming APEC’s usual ways of doing business and convening a majority of APEC Meetings in a fully virtual-format.
This is the year where the APEC Ministerial-level Meetings for Trade, Health, Finance, Women, and Small and Medium Enterprises were convened in a fully digital format, a feat never before accomplished in APEC.
The Malaysian year will be fondly remembered as the year Malaysia pioneered digital hosting of APEC meetings and did so while demonstrating leadership, innovation, pragmatism and resilience. This year marks the second time Malaysia hosts APEC.
Malaysia first served as the Chair and Host of APEC in 1998. For more details on APEC 2020, please visit www.myapec2020.my or follow APEC 2020 on social media. — Bernama, October 26, 2020
