Stimulating the pandemic, the main climate agenda at the APEC leaders’ summit Business and Economics

Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade group will focus on the region’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, highlighting supply chain support and the decarbonisation of economies in virtual talks starting this week.

Tensions are expected, however, in talks between 21 economic groups this week over Taiwan’s bid to join a regional trade pact and the US’s proposal to host a 2023 round of meetings.

New Zealand APEC Leaders ’Week is being organized entirely online thanks to a tough pandemic response that has kept the international border closed to almost all passengers for 18 months.

“This meeting will focus on drawing the way out of this crisis once a century,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement.

Talks between trade and foreign ministers from 21 economic groups, including the US, China and Russia, will be held before the heads of state meet online on Friday night.

APEC member economies account for about 38% of the world’s population and more than 60% of gross domestic product.

“Together we continue to operate supply chains and support the trade in critical medical supplies, including test kits, PPE and now vaccines,” Ardern said.

At a special meeting in June, APEC members pledged to expand the sharing and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and to raise barriers to trade in medicines.

The APEC meeting comes in the shadow of the G20 summit in Rome and the climate meeting in Glasgow (Scotland’s COP26), both of which were attended by leaders.

At a press conference on Monday, Ardern admitted that the virtual event meant that the country had lost a big splash.

“It means that our ability to put New Zealand on a global scale would not be enough if we had a personal event,” Ardern said, adding that it allowed for better employer participation.

Tensions are expected over Taiwan’s stated goal of getting the reunion to support its bid to enter into a regional trade pact with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Pacific Cooperation (CPTPP).

China, which has also applied to join the treaty, is opposed to membership in Taiwan and has stepped up military activities near the island, Beijing says, and has not ruled out taking it by force.

Offer from US hosts

Tensions may also rise as the U.S. offers to host APEC in 2023, which would be the first session in the country since then-President Barack Obama led the Hawaiian group in 2011.

Focusing attention and resources on the region has become the backbone of President Joe Biden’s administration, which has moved away from old security concerns after US forces withdrew from Afghanistan.

But Russia has yet to officially approve the U.S. proposal, a source familiar with the discussions said, creating an unusual situation for the bloc, which usually agrees to organize the halls in advance.

Russia has sought to ensure that its representatives can attend a U.S. meeting despite some of them being punished, the source said, adding that China has neither agreed nor rejected the U.S. offer.

No country has publicly commented on the proposal. The Russian Foreign Ministry was unable to immediately comment.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said APEC is an important forum for economic cooperation in Asia and the Pacific.

“China will be involved in this process of reaching consensus through negotiation,” he said.

“I’m sure the US and New Zealand would like to fix that beforehand [the] Leadership Meeting, but the conflict should not hold the communiqué, because leaders can always say they hope to meet in Thailand next year and leave it at that, ”said Matthew Goodman, a consultant at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic Studies and International Studies.

Since its first annual meeting of APEC leaders since 1993, a Leaders ’Declaration has been issued, with the exception of Papua New Guinea in 2018, due to disagreements between the US and China.