Thailand has been given the immense honor of hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic 
Cooperation, or APEC, in November 2022. The role comes with major opportunities 
and equally significant duties for Thailand due to APEC's long-standing 
importance as well as the unique context of the year.

Thailand Hosts APEC 2022 to Reconnect and Empower the Region to New 
Opportunities: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1917951/1.mp4  

APEC was established in 1989 with Thailand as a co-founding member. The 
important forum for economic cooperation has since come to comprise 21 leading 
economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Throughout the decades, APEC's core value has remained promoting regional 
economic integration. At present, APEC is home to over 2.8 billion people with 
a combined GDP of more than 53 trillion US dollars, more than half of the 
world's GDP and global trade.

Hosting the meeting in the first year following alleviation of the COVID-19 
pandemic, Thailand's theme for APEC in 2022, "Open. Connect. Balance." 
indicates the key deliverables it envisions namely; opening the region to 
opportunities, connecting across all dimensions, and helping achieve balance in 
all aspects.

The 21 economies of APEC, utilize the meeting annually to discuss avenues for 
facilitating trade and economic progress in a range of dimensions, stand to 
especially benefit this year due to their need to reconnect, uncover new 
opportunities for growth and build resilience against emerging challenges.

Initiatives spearheaded by Thailand in accordance with these objectives 
include; refreshing the dialogue on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific 
(FTAAP) through a post-COVID-19 lens, forming the Safe Passage Taskforce to 
coordinate safe and seamless resumption of cross-border travel and securing 
endorsement for the Bangkok Goals on the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy as a 
leader-level document committing APEC to environmentally-conscious economics.

Furthermore, Thailand has devoted attention during its year as host to 
supporting digital technology and innovation to develop human capacity, 
promoting access to funding for Micro, Small, and Medium sized Enterprises 
(MSMEs), empowering women through more inclusive economic participation, and 
supporting sustainable tourism.

From the doldrums brought on by COVID-19, APEC poises itself in 2022 to not 
only revitalize its economies, but to emerge stronger and better equipped to 
achieve long-term prosperity. Thailand, in the host role, will be able to 
showcase its capabilities as one of the founding members of the forum.

The APEC Economic Leaders' Week will run from 14 to 19 November 2022, while the 
APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting will take place on 18 - 19 November in Bangkok. 
Prior to the main meeting, there will be a series of gatherings, including the 
final APEC Senior Officials' Meeting, as well as the APEC Ministerial Meeting, 
which is attended by trade ministers and foreign affairs ministers.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand

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