APEC Ministerial Meeting ends with continuous effort for joint statement

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- The 2023 APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) concluded on Wednesday with members continuing to work for a consensus statement.

APEC members have reached a consensus on nearly all paragraphs while continuous efforts are underway to finalize the statement, said U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who chaired the two-day meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"Consistent with the approach taken last year in Bangkok, I have instructed my team to continue working with your officials toward reaching consensus on the AMM text, with the aim of releasing the AMM statement once our leaders reach consensus on the outstanding language," said Tai in the closing session of the meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

The consensus paragraphs reflect APEC's common commitment to a robust agenda across the common goals of building an interconnected, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient Asia-Pacific future, Tai added.

The leaders of APEC members are scheduled to participate in various dialogues and activities in San Francisco from Wednesday to Friday.

Meanwhile, the United States also started to hand over the APEC host year responsibilities to Peru.

Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea said Peru would move forward with all the achievements of this year in order to empower more vulnerable populations with a special note for women, young people, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

"We're going to look to foster proposals in order to be able to incorporate them in our global economy in a sustainable and inclusive way," said Gonzalez-Olaechea.