Bongbong Marcos to raise food, energy security issues in Apec meeting
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (file photo)
UPDATED MANILA, Philippines – Food and energy security are among the issues that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will raise during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
Marcos will participate in the Apec meeting in Bangkok, Thailand on November 16 to 19.
“The president will be calling for attention to the need to ensure food security, energy security and also the robust response of Apec economies to the challenge of climate adaptation and mitigation,” Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Eric Gerardo Tamayo said in a Palace press briefing.
Tamayo likewise said that Marcos will push for the revitalization of Apec as a “driver of global economic growth.”
The Asia – Pacific region, the foreign affairs official noted, was a significant driver of the global economy but was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So, the challenge before us is to facilitate the rapid recovery of economies arising out of the pandemic and also to undertake the necessary measures to also counter, disrupt the forces that affect the current economic situation around the globe,” Tamayo pointed out.
Marcos will also have bilateral meetings with six counterparts, said Tamayo.
He, however, did not disclose who the leaders are as “arrangements are still being finalized.”
The president is also set to meet with the Filipino community in Thailand.
The forthcoming Apec meeting will be the first to be held physically since 2018.
