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Image Credit: APEC Secretariat

Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr. Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II of Brunei Darussalam attended the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting convened on 25-26 May 2023 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America. The Meeting was chaired by Her Excellency Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative, and in attendance were Ministers from all APEC economies, APEC Executive Director, as well as representatives from APEC Business Advisory Council, ASEAN Secretariat and Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. 

The APEC MRT Meeting is one of the ministerial meetings scheduled under United States’ APEC host year in 2023 with the overall theme of “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All,” and the policy priorities of building a more interconnected, innovative, and inclusive APEC region. 

The Meeting commenced with a session where APEC Ministers exchanged views on efforts to support the strengthening of the multilateral trading system, particularly in relation to World Trade Organization (WTO)’s effectiveness in responding to global economic challenges. Such dialogue concluded with remarks by Her Excellency Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the WTO who shared the progress in the work towards the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in 2024 as well as her thoughts on APEC’s possible contribution. In the MRT Meeting’s subsequent agenda, APEC Ministers reviewed collective actions to foster sustainable and inclusive trade in the region, whilst appreciating economies’ individual efforts that also drive the achievement of this common ambition. 

Yang Berhormat Dato Dr Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II, in his interventions during the two sessions, among others: 

(i) emphasised the importance of sustaining the good momentum from the 12th WTO MC last year in producing concrete and mutually beneficial outcomes at the MC13 in relation to the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, e-commerce, food security as well as WTO reforms; and 

(ii) welcomed APEC’s initiatives that create more trade opportunities, enable people and businesses to seize economic growth opportunities and support the sustainability agenda. Appreciating APEC’s innovative approach in sustaining green development, Yang Berhormat Dato Dr also shared Brunei Darussalam’s trade policy agenda that aims to deepen its economic linkages, as well as domestic efforts to empower its population through the provision of quality education, access to skill training and innovation programmes and life long learning. 

The Chair’s Statement on the 2023 APEC MRT Meeting is available at www.apec.org.