Due to Paris attacks, Mexican diplomat cancels PH trip for Apec meet

Workers rush to install APEC signs at the World Trade Center in anticipation of the world leader’s meeting on November 18-19 2015.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

The head of Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will not participate in this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meetings hosted by the Philippines. OECD is a grouping of 34 developed countries.

OECD Secretary-General José Ángel Gurría, a Mexican diplomat and economist, was supposed to take part in the Apec CEO Summit, where he was earlier announced as a panelist at the session titled “What is the Next Horizon for Asia-Pacific Trade?” on Nov. 17, Tuesday.

“Due to the situation in Paris, our Secretary-General has decided to cancel his mission to Apec,” a Tokyo-based OECD media and public affairs officer told the Inquirer in an e-mail on Sunday night.

In an advisory on its website, the OECD said that despite the terror attacks in Paris last Friday, “all meetings at the OECD the week of Nov. 16 will proceed as planned.”

READ: World leaders unite amid French grief

Eight Apec member-economies also belong to the OECD: Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States.

Despite not being an OECD member, the Philippines actively participates in OECD-led initiatives, such as the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (Beps) project, a global move to catch more tax evaders across wider borders. TVJ

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