After Singapore, Duterte to fly to Papua New Guinea for Apec meet

President Rodrigo Duterte will fly straight to Papua New Guinea after the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Singapore to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) economic leaders meeting later this week.

Duterte will join 20 other leaders and representatives of the economies of APEC in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea over the weekend, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella said in a Palace briefing on Monday.

“The President joins other leaders in affirming commitment to an international rules-based regime support of the multilateral trading system embodied by organizations like the World Trade Organization,” Abella said

“The President conveys his support for mechanisms that will enable our MSMEs or MSMEs as they call it to take advantage of digital and online platforms to benefit their enterprises and to bring their products and services overseas,” he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States President Donald Trump will not attend the summit. Putin will be represented by former Russian President and now Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev while Trump will be represented by US Vice President Mike Pence.

Abella also noted that Duterte is expected to meet with the Filipino community in Papua New Guinea, which is home to over 40,000 Filipinos and over 200 Philippine companies.

The President will leave the country for Singapore on Monday evening from his hometown Davao City. He will be in Singapore from Tuesday to Friday to attend the Asean Summit.

Duterte will take a private jet from Singapore for his trip to Papua New Guinea.

He is expected to return to the country from Papua New Guinea on Sunday evening. /je

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