18-19 November 2022 year in the capital of Thailand Bangkok hosted the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) – regional forum, formed at the initiative of Australia in November 1989 of the year at the first conference of ministers of foreign affairs and economy of 12 countries of the Asia-Pacific region (perfume) in Canberra.
The territorial-state formations participating in the APEC forum are usually called not countries, and economies, as they include two economically autonomous territories, parts of the People's Republic of China - Hong Kong and Taiwan. APEC has no charter, therefore, it is not legally an organization and acts as an international forum, advisory body to discuss economic issues. Total in the forum 21 economy: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, USA, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Chile, Peru, Russia and Vietnam.
AT 1998 year, simultaneously with the admission of three new members to APEC - Russia, Vietnam and Peru - a 10-year moratorium was introduced on further expansion of the membership of the Forum (at 2010 year it was extended indefinitely, India shows interest in joining the forum, Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Macau, Mongolia, Pakistan, Panama, Sri Lanka and Ecuador). Observer status is held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Pacific Economic Cooperation Council and Pacific Islands Forum. The participating economies are home to 2,9 billion. human, they account for about 40% world population, order 62% GDP and 48% world trade turnover.
FROM 1993 year, the main form of organizational activity of APEC are the annual summits (informal meetings) APEC Economic Leaders, during which declarations are made, summing up the Forum's activities for the year and defining the prospects for further activities. Meetings of the ministers of foreign affairs and economy are held regularly. The Bangkok Forum was the first face-to-face APEC summit since 2019 of the year (three previous summits - in Chile in 2019 year, in Malaysia in 2020 year and New Zealand in 2021 year - for various reasons were virtual and took place in the format of videoconferencing). Chinese President Xi Jinping became the chief guest of the Bangkok summit. On the eve of the opening of the summit, Beijing distributed its written appeal to the participants, in it, the Chinese leader said, that Asia-Pacific (perfume) is not "anyone's backyard" and should not become "an arena of major power rivalry".:
The Russian delegation at the Bangkok summit was headed by First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Belousov. The forum was held under the slogan “openness, connectedness, Balance”. Opening this event, prime minister presiding over APEC's 2022 year of Thailand, General Prayut Chan-o-cha stressed, that the main topic of the meeting is sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region, ensuring the well-being of its inhabitants by promoting a balanced, comprehensive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth and accelerating regional economic integration.
.For Russia, the summit demonstrated the interest of most Asia-Pacific economies in Russian participation and in multilateral diplomacy, and in economic cooperation, and in the presence of Russia in the regional market, Russia itself is also interested in participating in integration projects in the Asia-Pacific region, a special role in which Siberia and the Far East play (primarily in the energy and transport fields). They can become a kind of "land bridge" between the countries of the so-called Pacific Rim. (Pacific Rim) and Europe.
Unlike the G20 summit in Bali (Indonesia) military conflict in Ukraine was not among the main topics of the meeting of APEC leaders. The final statement of the summit reflected: "Most of the members [APEC] condemned the war in Ukraine and emphasized, that it is causing great human suffering and exacerbating existing problems in the global economy, limiting her growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, exacerbating energy and food insecurity and heightening financial stability risks. There were other views, different assessments of the situation and sanctions”.
The next APEC summit is scheduled to be held in 2023 a year in San Francisco (USA).
Vladimir CHUSHKIN
