ABAC Chair Kriengkrai Thiennukul presenting the ABAC Report to APEC Economic Leaders to His Excellency Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha with ABAC Thailand Members and Alternate Members (R-L) Dr. Poj Aramwattananont, Mr. Kobsak Duangdee, Mr. Montri Mahaplerkpong and Mr. Kasemsit Pathomsak.
Bangkok, 11 October 2022 - ABAC 2022 Chair and Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, Kriengkrai Thiennukul, today presented ABAC’s Report to APEC Economic Leaders to APEC 2022 Chair Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
"The Report contains ABAC’s recommendations to APEC Leaders to meet the unprecedented economic crises faced by the Asia-Pacific region arising from the consequences of the continuing pandemic, geo-political conflict, inflation, and supply chain disruptions which impact directly on business, both large and small. These recommendations will be the basis of our discussions when we meet with APEC Leaders during our annual dialogue on November 18", said ABAC Chair Khun Kriengkrai.
The goals of ABAC’s recommendations are firstly to speed up the region’s economic recovery and secondly to regain the momentum for dynamic, sustainable, inclusive, and resilient long-term growth. Tackling inflation, food insecurity, restrictions on the movement of essential goods and services to tackle the pandemic, and the re-opening borders safely to restore economic activity will be key to speeding recovery. Regaining the momentum for long term growth will require actions to address the consequences of climate change, furthering regional economic integration by supporting the global rules-based trading system and accelerating the realization of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, enhancing support for MSMEs – including women-owned and indigenous businesses – to foster inclusion, encouraging the faster and wider uptake of digital technologies, and pursuing fiscal consolidation and structural reform.
“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. But this will require even greater collective leadership and decisive action from APEC. We, the business sector, are committed to playing our role in this effort”, said Khun Kriengkrai in conclusion.
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
Mobile: +63 917 849 3351 Email: abacsec@pfgc.ph
