Dozen heads of state to arrive in PH today for Apec 2015

US President Barack Obama shakes hands with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. ARIES HEGINA/INQUIRER.net

More than a dozen heads of state are expected to arrive today Tuesday for the 2015 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit 2015.

United States President Barack Obama has just arrived.

READ: US President Barack Obama arrives in PH for Apec

Expected to arrive later in the day are Chinese Pres. Xi Jinping, Mexican Pres. Enrique Nieto, South Korean Pres. Park Geun-Hye, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, and Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Trade Minister Thomas Trikasih Lembong are expected to arrive on behalf of Indonesia President Joko Widodo, who will not be attending the summit.

The following heads of states have arrived earlier–Vietnamese Pres. Truong Tran Sang, Chilean Pres. Michelle Bachelet, former Vice President of Chinese Taipei Vincent Siew, Colombian Pres. Juan Manuel Santos, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O’Neill, and Chief Executive of Hong Kong Chun-ying Leung.

Nieto and Bachelet are also in the country for a state visit.

Roads leading to the airports have been cordoned and flights cancelled to accommodate the arrival of the heads of state. CDG