APEC anti-terrorism meeting opens in C. Philippines

The sixth Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Counter-Terrorism Working Group (CTWG) Meeting kicked off Tuesday in central Philippine province of Cebu.

Acting Executive Director of the Philippine Anti-Terrorism Council-Program Management Center, Oscar Valenzuela, in the opening the meeting, urged APEC member economies to intensify their cooperation in the fight against terrorism to foster security and resilience of businesses and communities.

He said the threats of terrorism persist in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in other countries. "We live in a very complex world, one which is increasingly becoming more dangerous. Terrorism disrupts the normal and peaceful way of living of our people. It disrupts how we conduct our businesses, the way we travel,"he said.

Valenzuela, current chair of CTWG, recognized that a threat like terrorism is difficult to combat, given the unconventional way terrorists act.

The CTWG is holding its two-day sixth meeting in Cebu as part of the third APEC Senior Officials'Meeting (SOM).

The working group has activities that are done in four cross- cutting activity areas of the APEC Counter-Terrorism and Secure Trade Strategy: secure supply chains, secure travel, secure finance and secure infrastructure. Endi