MALAYSIA PUSHES FORWARD APEC'S COVID-19 DIGITAL INFORMATION SHARING PLATFORM

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 -- Malaysia is pushing towards a few key deliverables, among which is the establishment of the APEC COVID-19 LIVE, a digital information sharing platform among the 21-member economies, Senior Officer Meeting (SOM) Chair Hairil Yahri Yaacob said.

The call to prioritise work on this front for Senior Officials have been instructed by Ministers’Responsible for Trade (MRT), he said in his opening remark at the Second Virtual SOM meeting.

“Therefore, I must stress that it is of utmost importance for us to collectively come to an agreement on this proposal, and ensure that the digital platform is materialised before the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting (AELM),” he said at the last SOM meeting with Malaysia as the Chair.

The APEC COVID-19 LIVE platform aims to capture the policy interventions, measures, programmes and initiatives adopted by APEC Economies to address the health crisis.

In addition to the COVID-19 LIVE, there are also other key deliverables and outcome documents that have been included in the agenda, including the establishment of the Sub-fund for APEC Cooperation on Combating COVID-19 and Economic Recovery, he said.

The other agendas are the APEC Internet and Digital Economy Roadmap (AIDER) Work Programme, final assessment on Bogor Goals, APEC Connectivity Blueprint Mid-term Review, and final assessment of APEC Strategy for Strengthening Quality Growth.

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“We must work swiftly to complete the pending tasks associated with these documents to enable us to reflect the relevant key achievements in the Leaders’ Declaration,” said Hairil.

With little time left before the AELM, he called upon Senior Official of respective member economies to embrace the spirit of cooperation and collaboration in concretising the deliverables.

-- BERNAMA