APEC Thailand Summit Marked by Agreements on Economy & Trade, Divisions on Ukraine

21 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation member states adopted a leaders’ declaration on Saturday underlining the need for fair and transparent trade and green transition, while also voicing their positions on Ukraine.

The “green” agenda was key at the APEC leaders’ meeting on November 18-19 as they adopted the Bangkok Goals on Bio-Circular Economy. The concept revolves around achieving an inclusive, balanced, and sustainable recovery from COVID-19, focusing on economic growth, as well as environmental and climate objectives in the APEC region.

APEC leaders have also agreed on economic and technical cooperation, with some members, such as China, pointing at the need to uphold true multilateralism and preserve the multilateral trading system.

Ukraine Factor

The issue of the conflict in Ukraine was mentioned in the APEC Summit’s final declaration that was signed on Saturday. But despite debate on the wording, a consensus was reached.

Even though the majority of APEC members expressed their opposition to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, they also acknowledged that there are different views and assessments of the conflict – something that Moscow wanted to see in the final declaration.

Tanee Sangrat, the director-general at the Department of Information of Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Sputnik that the year of his country’s APEC chairmanship was very challenging, but Thailand and other members of the organization eventually overcame various differences:

“We see today that the APEC ministers have overcome those differences, and they have been able to come up with a joint statement, and that makes us happy, and I think that says a lot about the hope for the world. And that is the mark that Thailand has set on the international global level.”

Thai Shopping, Tuk-Tuks and E-Bikes on the Sidelines

More than 100 APEC-related meetings were held on the sidelines of the summit, which included business negotiations, as Thai private companies were looking for joint investments.

As leaders were concluding their summit meetings on Saturday, Thai entrepreneurs shared with delegates and the media what the country’s businesses have to offer at a special exhibition in the APEC media center.

Everything from AI-powered robots for health care to e-bike battery swapping services were put on display, along with traditional Thai Tuk-Tuks that were showcased by The Mall Group, which owns some of Bangkok's most prominent shopping centers.

Although they are still popular and loved by tourists, Bangkok's Tuk-Tuks may very well be replaced as taxis in the future by futuristic e-bikes, which were also available at the APEC media center. Thailand’s Bangchak Corporation presented its e-bike battery swapping service called Winnonie.

It allows taxi e-bike drivers to replace batteries in minutes by using automated lockers installed across the Greater Bangkok area instead of charging them for three to four hours. According to the Bangchak Corporation’s Communication Officer Trip Kirtiputra, the APEC platform gave his company an important opportunity to explain the advantages of green e-bike technology:

“I think it’s definitely very, very important. I think many people in general, and Thai people in particular have not actually seen an e-bike before, they are very skeptical, especially about batteries and the distance and torque,” Kirtiputra said. “While there are many brands available, most fail to mimic the performance of conventional motorbikes, but with the new technology and with dual-battery system, that gap is being closed.”

APEC-2023: From Thailand to America

On Saturday, Thailand handed the APEC chairmanship over to the United States, with the country’s Vice President Kamala Harris taking part in the ceremony.

Russia was represented at the summit by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov. When asked whether he expects Washington to keep the 2023 APEC discussions constructive instead of boycotting Moscow, as it did during Indonesia’s G20 2022 presidency, Belousov said that he didn’t notice any negative rhetoric from Harris in Bangkok, which he considered to be “a good sign.”

The Bangkok summit was the first in-person gathering of APEC leaders since 2018, with the 2019 summit in Chile being canceled because of protests in the country and the following two meetings becoming online events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, APEC events will be hosted by the US, which will be followed by Peru's chairmanship in 2024.