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Add to Preferred Sources? 25 July 2020
Virtual conference
Media registration is now open for the 2020 APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting (MRT), which will be held virtually on 25 July 2020. The meeting will be chaired by Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
The mass spread of COVID-19 has disrupted global value chains, the tourism, and services sectors and is causing a deeper contraction to the region’s economy. The APEC Policy Support Unit estimates that the region’s economic growth will decline to -3.7 percent in 2020, bringing the total output loss to a staggering USD 2.9 trillion.
When APEC Trade Ministers meet virtually later this month, they will consider collective responses to these concerns and work towards measures that will ensure inclusive policy instruments are in place to fast-track a regional recovery, as stated in the joint trade ministers’ statement on COVID-19.
Ministers will also review APEC’s progress towards its goal to reach free and open trade and investment by 2020, and will consider a new vision for APEC beyond 2020 that will lead the forum’s work for the next decades.
Preceding the Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting will be the Second Virtual Extraordinary APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (VESOM) on 24 July, as well as a cluster of trade and sectoral officials’ meetings including a virtual meeting on emergency preparedness on 21 July.
A joint virtual ministerial news conference will be held after the conclusion of the MRT meeting and will be led by the 2020 Chair of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali of Malaysia.
Original source: APEC
Published on 14 July 2020