Peruvian Ambassador to Korea Paul Duclos. (Sanjay Kumar/The Korea Herald)

On Nov. 16, President Yoon Suk Yeol will participate in the APEC Leaders' Summit in Lima, coinciding with his official visit to Peru. This is a significant occasion as Korea will assume the presidency of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation for 2025, a forum which serves as the primary platform for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Over the past 35 years, APEC has effectively promoted trade and investment integration in the world's most dynamic economic region, which currently accounts for 62 percent of global gross domestic product and 48 percent of international trade. It also acts as a laboratory for best practices and initiatives that encourage free trade and investment, contributing to the sustainable economic growth of its members.

Peru is hosting APEC for the third time in its history and has organized over 200 technical and high-level meetings in 2024 under the theme “Empower. Include. Grow.” This agenda aims to strengthen vulnerable economic actors by providing them with tools for social and economic inclusion.

One of the key achievements of APEC Peru 2024 has been restoring consensus within the forum, which had been elusive for two years due to the complexities of the current international landscape.

So far, 15 unanimous deliverables have been adopted, including 10 ministerial statements and five technical-political instruments focusing on economic inclusion for people with disabilities, the development of clean hydrogen in the Asia-Pacific, principles to prevent and reduce food loss and waste, a fair energy transition initiative and a scheme on sustainable finance for voluntary information exchange and capacity building. This momentum will facilitate the adoption of initiatives proposed by the Korean government on its proposed new themes.

We anticipate the adoption of four additional ministerial statements and the most significant deliverable: a road map for transitioning to a formal and global economy. This road map aims to establish a robust and comprehensive set of public policies to gradually reduce high levels of informality, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises, which has hindered them from taking advantage of the benefits of the region's economic and trade openness.

In the context of APEC's 35th anniversary, Peru also promoted the forum's full engagement and benefits to civil society through the "APEC Citizen" initiative. This allowed experts, officials, academics, leaders and ministers to share their insights, wisdom and experience with young people and the broader community, as well as to organize cultural, scientific and technological events.

Finally, in our case, APEC has significantly boosted our exports — multiplying them by 14.7 since we joined in 1998, having finalized 10 free trade agreements with economies within the forum, and we are currently negotiating with two more: Thailand and Indonesia.

As we celebrate this journey, and in consonance with the rising sun of our 2024 logo, we look forward with optimism the future of this dynamic space for coordination, cooperation, and sustainable growth for its 21 member economies and their populations.

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Paul Duclos is Peruvian ambassador to South Korea. Views expressed in this article are the writer's own. -- Ed.