APEC Leaders’ Meeting 2023 Session II (Summary)

The second session of the APEC Leaders' Meeting (Topic: Interconnectedness and Building Inclusive and Resilient Economies) was held in San Francisco, U.S.A., on November 17, from 11:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. JST on November 18) for about two hours under the chairpersonship of the H.E. Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States of America. Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan attended the meeting. The summary is as follows.

1. Prime Minister Kishida stated the following two points as important elements in realizing interconnected, inclusive and resilient growth for the Asia-Pacific region.
   
   (1) It is important to maintain and strengthen a rules-based free, open, fair, and transparent trade and investment environment for global stability and growth. Particularly, it is essential to maintain and strengthen the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. WTO reforms, including reform of the dispute settlement system, are necessary. In this regard, Japan will contribute to achieving concrete results at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in February of next year. Japan will also continue to contribute to the establishment of a free and open economic order in the region. Japan will ensure the implementation of the CPTPP and RCEP in a sustainable manner, while appropriately addressing unfair trade practices and economic coercion. At the same time, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is shaking the foundations of sustainable development in this region. Russia’s nuclear threat is unacceptable and should never be used. We must return to the cooperation based on the founding spirit of APEC.
   (2) Digital technologies, including AIs, are essential for realizing vibrant economy for the region, as they　promote trade facilitation, regional connectivity, inclusiveness, and resilience. It is also important to create an environment where risks are properly managed and everyone can benefit from the digital economy. Japan is working to establish an international governance framework for advanced AI, including generative AI, through the G7 Hiroshima AI Process. Japan aims to go beyond the G7 framework and work with all the APEC economies and to pursue the realization of safe, secure, and reliable Ais. in addition, the data is at the core of the digital economy, and therefore it is also important to realize Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT) in the Asia-Pacific region.
2. Prime Minister Kishida concluded his speech by expressing his determination to continue to work closely with APEC economies, including Peru, the Chair of APEC 2024 based on the achievement achieved during the a U.S. APEC 2023 and to continue to contribute to the realization of the APEC Putrajaya Vision.
3. After the meeting, a APEC Leaders' Golden Gate and Chair’s Statement on the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East, and other issues were released.