Rebecca Sta Maria, former executive director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat, has stressed the organization's value as a platform for member economies to engage with one another at a time of growing geopolitical and geoeconomic uncertainty.
China will host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in the southern city of Shenzhen from Nov 18 to 19, the third time the country has staged the event following gatherings in Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2014.
The theme of this year's summit is "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together," with China identifying openness, innovation and cooperation as the three priority areas for this year.
In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Kuala Lumpur, Sta Maria, who also served as secretary general of Malaysia's Ministry of Trade and Industry, said APEC's role is especially important given the diversity of its membership.
"We're going through a very challenging time with geopolitics, geoeconomics, and when you look at it that way, from that perspective, the engagement within APEC is even more important. When you look at the membership of APEC with China, U.S., Russia and ASEAN member states, yes, we are varied, different levels of development, and it is at this particular time that you need organizations like APEC because it provides a platform for us to engage, for us to have conversations and listening. I think that's the value that APEC brings, that opportunity to have difficult conversations at a time like this," she said.
Looking ahead to the Shenzhen summit, Sta Maria called for more constructive dialog among members.
"[We need] to be more constructive. We need to listen more and appreciate each other's positions. And that's what we've been doing in APEC. Every economy, regardless of whether you're a big economy or a small economy, you have a voice," she said.
APEC vital platform for dialog amid geopolitical challenges: former executive director
