President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday called on members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) to become instruments of peace and innovation to ensure international prosperity.
Marcos made the remarks at the 2022 Apec CEO Summit in Bangkok, Thailand, where he was one of the panel speakers.
In his opening speech, the President expressed concern over existing geopolitical developments, which could threaten international peace.
“Prosperity and progress is only possible in a world that is at peace, because we as nations of the world can never achieve our fullest potential unless we do it together,” Marcos said.
“Whatever plans we may have for our countries, for our economies, those will come to naught unless they are within the context of peace in the region and in the world,” he added.
During the Asean Summits in Cambodia last week, Marcos called for an end of hostilities in Ukraine, Korean Peninsula, and the Taiwan strait, which all have the potential of escalating to global conflicts.
Big changes
The President also raised the importance of the innovation to help in the post pandemic economic recovery and address climate change.
“We cannot be too married to the ideas that we were holding as truths before and we have to be willing to make big changes but with the recognition that from what is actually happening around the world,” Marcos said.
Among such innovations, he said, would be the mainstreaming of the use of renewable energy to help minimize global carbon emissions.
“As the energy demands of the modern global economy continue to expand rapidly, diversification into renewables and other sources is imperative,” the President said.
He noted the country is open to such reforms and is now in the process of expanding its use of renewable energy.
“To this end, the Philippines has prioritized hydrothermal, geothermal, solar power, wind power as well as other low-emission energy sources by setting a target for a 35 percent renewable energy in the power generation mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040,” Marcos said.
Premier forum
The President said he is confident APEC could serve as the forum to help facilitate the peace and innovation initiatives.
“Apec’s size and dynamism, coupled with its strength in consensus-building and implementing multi-year programs, makes it well-positioned for this task,” Marcos said.
“We must leverage our region’s core strengths and values as the premier forum in the Asia-Pacific, as an incubator of cutting-edge ideas, as a pathfinder for collaborative solutions to new and emerging trade issues, and as a laboratory for forward-looking and responsive economic and trade policies,” he stressed.
Apec comprises 21 member economies, namely, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Chile, Peru, Russia and Vietnam.