Mexican President Felipe Calderon recently flew to Singapore to attend a high-level meeting of leaders of member-nations of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
The meeting, called the APEC Summit, was held last November 14 to 15 in Singapore. The focus of this year's edition of the annual summit are climate change, further trade liberalization in the region, and economic recovery from the crisis.
In particular, the Mexican government has expressed that it is most interested in talks regarding climate change, public health, regional economic integration, and the Doha Round of global trade talks. It also intends to promote the Green Fund, a US$10 billion World Fund project that proposes to pay nations to reduce their respective greenhouse gas emissions.
President Calderon, along with the leaders China, Canada, and much of the participating nations, also tried to pressure the United States to revert back from its policy of increasing economic protectionism. In his speech, Calderon criticized the US government for going over to the other side of free trade. Indeed, it is sometimes difficult to understand why the country that has always championed trade liberalization is now looking for ways to promote protectionary measures. The pressuring members were quick to say that protectionism that goes against international agreements are detrimental to local and international companies alike.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum of 21 Pacific Rim economies established to discuss issues concerning their economies and to cooperate regional trade among them. More than half of the world's GDP is represented by the 21 member-nations, which include China, USA, Canada, Australia, and Mexico. The forum was established in 1989, though it was only in 1993 when Mexico joined. The country then went to host the APEC Summit in 2002 in Los Cabos.
For more information about the meeting in Singapore, visit the forum's official website here.
