Noy wants ‘flawless’ APEC hosting

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino wants a “flawless and seamless” flow of events during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit the country is hosting this year.

To begin today in various venues are APEC-related activities, including a high-level dialogue on inclusive business, APEC concluding senior officials meeting, APEC business advisory council (ABAC) meeting, APEC small-medium enterprises summit (SME), APEC ministerial meeting, ABAC chief executive officers summit, APEC economic leaders meeting and the leaders’ spouses activities.

“In general, he (Aquino) said it would be well for all to review all salient aspects of preparations and continually fine-tune and improve these to ensure flawless and seamless flow of events during the economic leaders’ meeting next week,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said after Aquino and members of his Cabinet inspected the APEC venues Tuesday.

Leaders of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United States and Vietnam are attending the summit.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, expected to arrive on Nov. 16, will also have meetings with APEC member-economies.

Aquino will have a talk on “APEC’s Inclusive Growth Imperative” moderated by Andrew Stevens, Asia Pacific editor of CNN International, on Nov. 16.

In session 1, the President will deliver a keynote speech during the APEC SME Summit on Nov. 17.

APEC session 2 will focus on the new global context and open forum discussion on “Navigating Uncertainty” led by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and others, moderated by Norman Pearlstine, chief content officer of Time Inc.

Session 3 involves innovation and entrepreneurship: “The Next Frontier,” led by the Colombian leader; session four is on “The Future of Asia Pacific Growth” led by Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha; session five, an open forum discussion on human capital: “Health and Education of the Future” led by Peruvian President Ollanta Humala; and session six, a dialogue on inclusive growth and building resilience: “Strategies for Growth, Equity and Resilience” led by Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and moderated by Zoher Abdoolcarim, Asia editor for Time International;

Session 7 is an open forum discussion on cities: “What will the City of the Future Look Like?” led by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne Roberto Doyle and others and session eight focuses on trade: “What is the Next Horizon for Asia Pacific Trade?” by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

Session 9 is a summit dialogue conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe; session 10 is with Russian President Vladimir Putin; session 11 is on “Securing Growth in a Volatile World: What is to be done?” by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Mexican President Enrique Nieto and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Session 12 is with Chinese President Xi Jinping and session 13 will be with United States President Barack Obama.

Aquino will also be hosting the state visits of the Chilean and Mexican leaders ahead of the APEC summit.

The culminating activities will be the leaders’ meetings on Nov. 18 to 19.

Aquino will have formal bilateral meetings with 11 leaders and is expected to have talks with the others on the side.

He will hold a press conference at the end of the meeting on Nov. 19.