24th APEC Summit concludes in Peru

The 24th edition of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit concluded on 20 November 2016 in Lima, Peru. The summit ended with adoption of the 2016 Leaders Declaration.

The summit also closed with a joint pledge to work toward a new free trade agreement that would include all 21 members as a path to “sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth.”

The theme of the 24th APEC Summit was “Quality Growth and Human Development”. The architecture of Caral, an ancient city of Peru, served as the inspiration for the official logo of the APEC summit.

What was the agenda of the summit?

The four pointers were laid out as topics to be discussed for the 2016 APEC summit. These were:

• Human Capital Development
• Upgrading Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)
• Upgrading Regional Food Market
• Regional Economic Integration Agenda

Key highlights of the 2016 Leaders Declaration

• Quality Growth and Human Development: The world leaders committed to strengthen their efforts to ensure decent work and work life quality for all, especially socially vulnerable groups. It will be done by providing access to quality education and vocational training, boosting entrepreneurship, improving social protection and enhancing regional cooperation.

• Challenges and opportunities for free trade and investment in the current global context: The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to keep their markets open and to fight against all forms of protectionism. They also welcomed the implementation of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) expansion.

• Towards real and functional connectivity in the region: The leaders committed to promote investment with a focus on infrastructure in terms of both quantity and quality.

• Food security, climate change and access to water: The world leaders committed to enhance their cooperation on implementing policies to address the relationship between food security and climate change in ways that respect varying conditions in each economy. They welcomed the APEC Program on Food Security and Climate Change.