INCOMING President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday accepted an invitation to attend the planned face-to-face (F-to-F) Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit in Thailand this coming November 18 and 19, 2022.
Marcos Jr. was personally invited by Thai Chargé d’ Affaires Thawat Sumitmo to the Apec Summit, in his capacity as representative of Thailand, which is the current Apec Chair.
The annual summit will return into a F-to-F meeting since 2018, after the 2019 summit in Chile was canceled due to protests in the said country, while the last two editions were held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Apec Summit, which was established in 1989, has become the pre-eminent economic forum in the Asia-Pacific region.
Its primary purpose is to promote sustainable economic growth, trade and investment, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Thailand government sent its invitation during the courtesy call of Asean Ambassadors to Marcos Jr. last June 6.
To recall, the ambassadors of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Singapore, Vietnam and the Chargé d’ Affaires of Thailand recently paid a courtesy call to Marcos Jr. at the latter’s campaign headquarters in Mandaluyong City.
Marcos Jr., who was grateful to the Heads of Missions for paying him a visit, said that while he has already met some of the ambassadors in the past, he was glad to meet them as a group noting how Asean has become a very important regional organization.
He is also confident that Asean will play a vital role in the region’s quick economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thailand will host the Apec 2022 summit, which will focus on the importance of facilitating the resumption of safe and convenient cross-border travel to hasten the region’s speedy and robust economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The theme for 2022 Apec is “Open. Connect. Balance.”
