NY, UNITED STATES, October 20, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The 2001 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Shanghai was held under the theme “Meeting New Challenges in the New Century: Achieving Common Prosperity through Participation and Cooperation.” In 2014, the Beijing meeting adopted the theme “Shaping the Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership.” In 2026, Shenzhen will host APEC under the theme “Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together.”
Over the past 25 years, the priorities facing the region have continued to evolve, but openness and cooperation have remained central to Asia-Pacific development.
From promoting trade and investment liberalization to strengthening regional connectivity and exploring new ways to harness artificial intelligence for industrial development, APEC’s cooperation agenda has continued to expand, reflecting the evolution of the region’s growth drivers. Against the backdrop of technological transformation and a changing global trade environment, a key challenge for regional cooperation is ensuring that economies at different stages of development, with different industrial strengths, can share in the opportunities created by innovation.
“APEC’s core function is not to make rules, but to facilitate cooperation. The best way to understand APEC is to see it as an ‘incubator’,” Eduardo Pedrosa, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, told Southern Finance in an exclusive interview one month ahead of the 2026 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
Pedrosa said that a shared commitment to developing open economies has underpinned the Asia-Pacific region’s sustained growth over more than 35 years. Looking ahead, economies need to leverage digital technologies to make small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) more resilient, identify opportunities for cooperation across the artificial intelligence value chain, and develop new sources of growth by strengthening the competitiveness of the services sector.
Reflecting on the outcomes of China’s APEC year, Pedrosa highlighted progress in connectivity, an artificial intelligence initiative, and a new roadmap for the services sector. In his view, services have become deeply integrated into manufacturing, making the sector an important area for regional cooperation.
Looking to the future, Pedrosa noted that the Asia-Pacific region accounts for around 60% of global GDP. The expansion of the middle-income population is expected to create more diverse trade opportunities, while economies will need to strike a balance between innovation and regulation, as well as between energy sustainability and security of supply.
Yinong Li
Dongfang Yiyang (Beijing) Consulting Co., Ltd.
+86 177 0665 6850
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability
for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this
article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
Media gallery
