Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group to hold summit

World leaders are set to meet virtually as Malaysia today hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit 2020.

APEC compromises of 21 member economies that together make up approximately 60% of global GDP and 40% of the world’s population. APEC is due a new set of priorities as the “Bogor Goals”, which were agreed upon by APEC leaders in 1994 and called for all APEC economies to achieve free and open trade and investment by 2020, will expire by the end of this year. Malaysia is currently in charge of drafting the post-2020 vision for the region. Many world leaders are expected to attend, including US President Donald Trump, marking this his first participation in the forum since 2017, suggesting a renewed US commitment to the future of APEC.

Today, Malaysia will be avoiding major disputes and contentious issues through a delicately worded document in order to allow for a consensus amongst diverse interests. If successful, this would be the first joint-communique since 2017. The APEC pillars are expected to remain the same, while significant adjustments to the course of action will be made to account for COVID-19’s short- and long-term effects on global and regional economies.