• Peru incorporation to Strategic Transpacific Agreement of Economic Association and half a million dollars donation to the APEC assistance program, on the part of the Russian Federation were announced.
Ministers on Foreign Affairs and Trade of APEC 21 Member Economies met at National Museum for two days, to discuss an agenda based on twelve subjects. Peruvian Foreign Secretary Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde as well as the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Mercedes Araoz, were in charge of presenting the results. These report will serve as source to develop Lima Declaration which will be signed at the Leaders Meeting.
In regard to the global economic situation, ministers declared that the region faces several challenges. For this reason, corporate work and strengthen of regional cooperation have been agreed. They also pledged to boost structural reforms, improve human security, and take steps to strengthen Regional Economic Integration, recognizing the importance of small and medium enterprises.
Moving on to another announcement, ministers recommended Leaders to support the recent G-20 statement and multilateral trade system, represented by the WTO. In addition, preparation of an agenda regarding concrete actions for 2009, with a view to the Regional Economic Integration and the fulfillment of Bogor goals, was also announced.
Other commitments were working Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), with the aim of magnifying the positive impact of business on communities, intensifying fight against corruption and promoting transparency, protect the region against terrorist attacks as well as citizens against the effects of climate change.
Auspicious announcements
Two announcements were stated along the 20th Corporate Ministerial Meeting press conference. The first was related to opening conversations regarding incorporation of Peru, the United States and Australia to the Strategic Transpacific Agreement of Economic Associaton, known as P4. Which brings Chile, New Zealand, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore together. The conference was attended by Trade Ministers of the seven referred economies.
Finally, Understanding Memorandum signing between APEC and Russian Federation took place. It is important to mention that through this Memorandum, aforementioned Federation donates half a million dollars to the APEC assistance
program. The funds will be allocated to Human Security investments and Science and Technology investigations. Also, Peruvian Foreign Secretary, Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde; his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov; APEC Secretariat executive director, Juan Carlos Capuñay; and Russia executive chief Vasily Dobrovolsky were present in this event.