SAN FRANCISCO: Pacific Rim leaders on Friday pledged support for reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to deliver a free, open, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, inclusive, and predictable trade and investment environment.

Days of meetings involving APEC ministers and leaders were dominated by a summit on Wednesday between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at cooling tensions between the world’s two largest economies, which have alarmed the region.

The APEC leaders reaffirmed their commitment to necessary reform of the WTO to improve all of its functions, including conducting discussions with a view to having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by 2024,“ said the declaration issued by the APEC chair.

Despite the frictions over the Ukraine and Middle East wars, the Sino-US talks will have brought some relief to APEC members concerned by a worsening trajectory in the rivalry between the superpowers, which are also the world’s largest economies.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2023