Ha
Long, 29 July 2022 – Asia-Pacific business leaders in
the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), meeting this week in Ha Long, Viet
Nam, expressed deep concern about the unprecedented crises facing the
region. The continuing pandemic, geo-political
conflict, inflation and supply chain disruptions are all stand out issues impacting
directly businesses, both large and small, and require even greater leadership
and decisive action from APEC.
His Excellency Mr. Nguyen Xuân Phúc,
President of Viet Nam, delivered the keynote address during the opening session.
He said he looks forward to ABAC developing recommendations to address the
grave challenges facing APEC economies noting that Viet Nam and other APEC
economies have always appreciated and supported ABAC’s views in the past.
“At our meeting, ABAC Members agreed on recommendations
they will make to APEC Leaders to confront these challenges by speeding up the region’s
economic recovery and regaining the momentum for dynamic, sustainable,
inclusive and resilient long-term growth”, said ABAC Chair for 2022 and
Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, Kriengkrai Thiennukul.
“Our report to Leaders will cover the key challenges of tackling
inflation, confronting food and energy insecurity and addressing climate change.
Over the medium term, we will call on APEC member economies to deepen regional
economic integration by supporting the global rules-based trading system and accelerating
the realization of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific. Likewise, we urge APEC to foster an enabling
environment for recovery and growth both through enhanced support for MSMEs –
particularly women-owned and Indigenous businesses and the adoption of
foundational digital infrastructure”.
The Chair highlighted the importance of sustainability.
“We think business can play a fundamental role in helping to develop innovative
ideas on climate change, supporting the transition to a sustainable, resilient,
and low-carbon economy for future generations, and supporting the Bio Circular
Green (BCG) Economy Model.”
“All these actions are all fundamental to ensuring that
our region will be seamless, dynamic, resilient, and sustainable – and a place
where everyone including disadvantaged and under-served groups can enjoy the benefits
and opportunities offered by deeper regional economic integration”.
ABAC will present these recommendations to APEC Economic Leaders
when they gather for their annual dialogue in Bangkok, Thailand on 18 November.
ABAC will also convey business views in
APEC ministerial and other high-level meetings covering food security, SMEs,
women, health and the economy and finance.
ABAC Chair Mr. Thiennukul expressed his gratitude to all
ABAC members, especially ABAC Viet Nam, for hosting this in-person meeting. The
meeting reaffirmed ABAC’s intention to enable the resumption of business and
cross-border travel, to learn to live with COVID-19, and to live in the “New
Normal”.
ABAC members also attended the Forum on
Business Linkage on Viet Nam Eastern Highway Economic Corridor (VEHEC) and the Investment Promotion Conference of Quang Ninh
Province 2022: “Quang Ninh – Combine The Best” held on the side of the meeting,
where they also had the opportunity to meet
top leaders of provincial administrations of four provinces which are located
along Viet Nam’s eastern highway.
Pham Tan Cong, Chair of VCCI, said that
through these side events, the ABAC delegates were able to witness first hand
not only the natural beauty of Viet Nam but also the business opportunities and
the dynamic growth of the Viet Nam economy, truly like a “rising Dragon”.
_______________________________________________________________________
APEC Member Economies: Australia; Brunei Darussalam;
Canada; Chile; China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Korea; Malaysia;
Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Russia; Singapore;
Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; and Viet Nam.
ABAC was created by APEC Leaders in 1995 to be the
primary voice of business in APEC. Each economy has three members who are
appointed by their respective Leaders. They meet four times a year in
preparation for the presentation of their recommendations to the Leaders in a dialogue
that is a key event in the annual Leaders Meeting.
Under Thailand’s leadership, ABAC is pursuing a
work program under the theme “Embrace. Engage. Enable” to respond to the
challenge of maintaining the economic vitality of the Asia-Pacific Region and
ensure it benefits all.
ABAC 2022 Chair is Kriengkrai Thiennukul (Thailand) and the
Co-Chairs are Rachel Taulelei (New Zealand) and Dominic Ng (USA), with five (5)
working group chairs, namely: Lam Yi Young, Regional Economic Integration
Working Group (REIWG); Janet De Silva, Digital Working Group (DWG); Dato Rohana
Mahmood, MSME and Inclusiveness Working Group (MSMEWG); Ning Gaoning,
Sustainability Working Group (SWG); and Hiroshi Nakaso, Finance and Economics
Working Group (FEWG).
For further
information please contact:
Mr. Montri
Mahaplerkpong, ABAC Executive Director 2022, Mobile: +66 81 830 1346, Email:
marty@scg.com
Mr. Antonio Basilio, Director, ABAC Secretariat, Tel: +63 917 849 3351, Email: abacsec@pfgc.ph
