Commentary: APEC meeting should focus on economic cooperation, create conducive atmosphere

Asia-Pacific leaders are gathering in Manila this week for an annual Asia-Pacific Economic and Cooperation (APEC) leaders' meeting, which should focus on economic cooperation and development of an atmosphere conducive to regional cooperation and growth.

Hopes have been running high for the meeting to yield concrete results to push forward cooperation and enhance inter-connectivity among countries in the Asia-Pacific region amid gloomy world economic forecast.

However, the existing atmosphere for the meeting is not as tranquil as expected, and there is a fear that this economic platform could be overloaded by complicated political motivations from certain countries.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson reportedly said last Tuesday that the United States and its allies would discuss regional disputes over sovereignty in the South China Sea on the sidelines of the APEC leaders' meeting.

APEC members should be wary of the moves that might deviate from the focus of the APEC leaders' meeting and jeopardize the success of the forum.

The global economy is far from being trouble-free. In the Asia-Pacific region, more than 700 million people are still living below the 1.25 U.S. dollars-per-day poverty line.

Earlier in October, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded the forecast of global economic growth to 3.1 percent this year from the previous 3.3 percent, underlining the grave challenges faced by the world.

In a speech entitled "Innovative Growth That Benefits All" at the Group of 20 (G20) summit held in the Turkish city of Antalya on Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that the G20, a main forum for global economic and financial cooperation, should work to maintain a stable economic growth in the short term, while seeking to inject new impetus into the world economy in the long term.

As the most important trade and economic forum of the region involving the highest level of leaders from some of the world's heavy-weight economies, APEC is an invaluable platform for economies of the region to make concerted efforts to tackle economic foes and push for more economic integration.

Fortunately, the Philippine government has a clear mind on this and has announced that no political or security issues will be, or should be, on the agenda of this year' APEC leaders' meeting.

As its name implies, APEC has a tradition of avoiding talking about political and security issues, as agreed by its members.

Since its establishment, APEC has been consistent in promoting trade facilitation, and economic and technological cooperation. It is also instrumental in promoting regional economic integration, inter-connectivity and economic cooperation among members.

At last year's APEC leaders' in Beijing, a road map was drawn to establish a Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and a blueprint was adopted to promote regional inter-connectivity. To carry out the tasks and make the goals a reality, more efforts and much coordination are needed.

For a better economic future of the region and the world, all APEC members should show sincerity and a cooperative stance to guarantee a favorable atmosphere for the annual meeting. Endi