Malaysia To Prioritise AI-driven Issues, Open Trade At APEC Meeting In South Korea

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will join regional and global partners this week at the 31st Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting in Jeju, South Korea, with artificial intelligence (AI) and demographic challenges among key priorities and calling for open trade.

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz will lead the Malaysian delegation to the meeting scheduled for May 15 -16, 2025.

In a statement today, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said Malaysia will leverage the APEC platform to reaffirm its strong commitment to a transparent, rules-based multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at its core.

“Malaysia remains committed to working closely with the APEC economies to ensure that sustainability, innovation, and open trade are reinforcing and beneficial to all economies as the region moves towards a more resilient, inclusive and future-ready Asia-Pacific,” said Tengku Zafrul.

MITI said the country’s commitment is also consistent with the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, which calls for open, fair and non-discriminatory trade and investment to drive regional integration and promote sustainable, inclusive growth.

“Malaysia fully supports APEC’s focus on AI as a catalyst for trade facilitation and innovation, which directly reflects the Vision’s aspiration for an open, dynamic, resilient, and peaceful Asia-Pacific community powered by innovation and digitalisation,” it said.

MITI noted that Tengku Zafrul will also engage in bilateral meetings with key trade partners including the APEC-ASEAN trade ministers, as well as WTO director-general Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

“The Informal Ministerial Meeting of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will also be held on the sidelines of the APEC meetings,” it added.

-- BERNAMA