President Rodrigo R. Duterte will be joining other international leaders in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next week, which will focus on international efforts against the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
In a virtual press briefing last Tuesday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte will be participating in the event on Nov. 12, 2021 via video conferencing.
Among the sessions to be attended by Duterte in the event includes the Global Economic Outlook presentation of the International Monetary Fund and the session on “COVID-19 Build Prosperity for All Our People and Future Generations.”
Duterte will also participate in the opening and closing ceremonies of the summit as well as the handover of the APEC chairing to Thailand.
New Zealand, which serves as the current host of APEC, already held an initial meeting last week, where global vaccination efforts were discussed.
Also tackled in the meeting are the growing concerns in the surge of Covid-19 infections in Indonesia, Australia, and Thailand.
Covid-19 remains among the top priorities of the APEC member countries as the disease infects 50 million people worldwide.