The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit concluded this Saturday with the adoption of a declaration focused on the expansion of trade and the challenges linked to artificial intelligence and demographic dynamics, in a context that highlighted the truce in the tariff dispute between the United States and China.
“For structural reasons, the Asia-Pacific region faces many different problems, and to maintain prosperity, we need to expand trade,” said South Korean President Lee Jae-myung during a press conference at the end of the meeting.
“We have agreed that we must cooperate and consult each other, and on the basis of these agreements we have adopted three documents,” added Lee, referring to the “Gyeongju Declaration ”, named after the city where the summit took place.
The joint document highlights that trade and investment “are vital to the growth and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region,” in addition to the leaders’ commitment to “deepen economic cooperation” in the forum.
The second day of the summit focused on the challenges and opportunities related to artificial intelligence, demographic changes, and the promotion of the cultural and creative industries.
The event reflected differences between the positions that defend free trade and those that promote protectionism, although the final document simply acknowledges the existence of debate on the current situation.
This year, the summit was marked by the temporary truce in the trade war between the United States and China, following the bilateral meeting between Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in South Korea.
Xi Jinping, who rose to prominence after the departure of the US delegation, told the forum on Friday that it was essential to foster an"open regional economic environment and promote trade, liberalization and investment facilitation."
Trump met with Xi Jinping on Thursday in the city of Busan, where they reached several agreements to reduce trade tensions. The US president returned to Washington that same day and delegated representation at the forum to his Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent.
Chile and Canada signed a modernization of their strategic partnership
Meanwhile, Chile and Canada signed a modernization of their strategic partnership agreement on Saturday, following a meeting between the leaders of both nations on the sidelines of the APEC forum summit held in South Korea.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric and Canadian President Mark Carney agreed to"modernize the strategic partnership agreement," said the Latin American country's Foreign Minister, Alberto van Klaveren, in statements to the media.
“Canada is the main source of foreign investment in Chile, highly specialized in the mining sector, but also in other sectors,” Klaveren added from the southern city of Gyeongju, where the summit took place.
The bilateral relationship is governed by a strategic partnership agreement signed in 2007 and renewed in 2023.
This new update to the Strategic Partnership Framework Agreement between Chile and Canada incorporates as a priority the positioning of trade issues, and areas relevant to Chile and Canada, such as gender equality, climate change, polar issues, critical minerals, cooperation on indigenous matters, among others, Boric's office said in a statement.
