President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. described the recently concluded 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit as “very productive,” citing the importance of the topics discussed during the high-level meeting held from October 30 to November 2 in Gyeongju, South Korea.
Speaking during the Kapihan with the Media in Busan on Saturday, November 1, Marcos said the summit successfully addressed major challenges confronting the Asia-Pacific region.
“This afternoon, we witnessed the turnover of the chair of APEC from the Republic of Korea and now to the People’s Republic of China. So China is going to host the APEC for the next year,” the President said.
He noted that the discussions covered a broad range of critical issues—from global trade and economic cooperation to emerging technologies and climate action.
“It was actually a very productive meeting, and because the subjects that were taken up are some of the most important and difficult subjects that the Asia Pacific countries are facing. Of course, trade led the subject matters, but of course, many other things came in about the cooperation between countries for AI… what are the directions we should take in terms of climate control, climate change, what can we do, how do we finally figure out the loss and damage type issues for that,” he said.
According to Marcos, the talks were largely focused on economic strategies and the shared concerns of participating economies.
“Mostly, really, it was an economic discussion on what are the things that we can do, because if you heard the leaders’ meetings, almost all of us opened with we are facing very precarious times. Lahat, the analysis is pretty universal,” he said.
Marcos also mentioned the diverse participation of economies from across the world, including those from Latin America and Southeast Asia, emphasizing the value of cross-regional collaboration.
“Those were the strategies that were being proposed, which is very interesting because we have Mexico and Chile all the way from Latin America. Of course, we had most of the ASEAN leaders here as well. The US was here, President Trump did not attend the APEC, but mostly he came here for the meeting with President Xi Jinping,” Marcos added.
The President also shared a light moment, saying he personally congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping after China formally assumed the APEC chairmanship for 2026. He quipped that the Chinese leader was “difficult to approach,” but he managed to greet him nonetheless.