APEC Summit Pushes for Free Trade Area

On Saturday 19 November 2022, Thai PM and APEC Chair Prayuth Chan-Ocha pushed for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).

The APEC has a membership of 21 countries from both sides of the Pacific Ocean. The grouping accounts for 38% of the global population, 62% of the global GDP and 48% of worldwide trade volume. Several similar overlapping #FTA, such as the TPP, are at various stages in the region.

The meeting concluded by designating the City of San Francisco in the USA to be the host of the next APEC Summit. In a handover ceremony, PM Prayuth symbolically handed over a ‘chalom’, which is a traditional Thai bamboo basket used to carry goods and gifts, to US VP Harris.