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Indonesia to push digital transformation, green economy at APEC
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French President Emmanuel Macron (center) arrives at the airport for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week (AELW) as a guest of the chair, at the Bangkok airport on Nov. 16. (AFP/Ludovic Marin)
I
ndonesia’s focus at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Thailand on Friday will be on economic recovery, inclusivity and sustainability, said President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Thursday, ahead of his Bangkok-bound flight.
In line with these priorities, Jakarta will use the summit to advance its digital transformation, green economy and downstream operations agenda.
“The principle is to leave no one behind. [...] Representing nearly 3 billion people across the world and 60 percent of the global gross domestic product, APEC must continue to be the growth machine of the Asia-Pacific economy,” Jokowi said.
In Thailand, Jokowi will also hold a series of bilateral meetings with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
APEC, a trade forum of which both the United States and China are members, has become a tricky forum to tread amid intensifying rivalries among economic superpowers. And it has not been spared the tensions resulting from the Ukraine war, as Western leaders have their guard up after a deadly Tuesday missile strike on Poland.
Read also: RI to bring G20 loose ends to APEC
While Chinese President Xi Jinping was among the attending leaders, US Vice President Kamala Harris attended in place of US President Joe Biden. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also expected to be absent.
On Friday, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha urged APEC members to “rise above differences”, lest the group lose sight of the opportunities available to it. Prayut emphasized that discussions about the transition to sustainable economic growth and development would be imperative.
“Global affairs, climate and other crises affect not only the Asia-Pacific but [also the] livelihoods of all people in the world,” he said, as quoted by Reuters.
“We need to look past the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to look at the recovery of the environment.”
Declaring a theme of “Open, Connect, Balance” for the APEC Summit, chair Thailand hopes to advance the formation of the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP).
Experts have suggested that the APEC forum still holds a lot of weight in the region, and that in matters of digital transformation, the forum’s dialogues have been advanced compared to those at the Group of 20.
Despite the opportunities, Thailand’s leadership has been grappling with both internal and external challenges.
On Friday, as APEC leaders descended on the Thai capital, pro-democracy activists gathered around the venue’s perimeters to demand Prayuth’s resignation, accusing his leadership of illegitimacy, as it had been won through a 2014 military coup.
