PM Wong hosted to dinner by New Zealand PM on sidelines of Apec meeting
Australia and Canada’s prime ministers were also in attendance
[GYEONGJU] Prime Minister Lawrence Wong was hosted to dinner by New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Thursday evening (Oct 30), on the second day of his visit to South Korea.
Also attending the dinner were Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese and Canada’s PM Mark Carney.
Later that night, PM Wong posted a photo of him and the other three leaders on social media, with the caption: “Working together, we can achieve so much more. And here at the Apec Summit, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
PM Wong is in the historical city of Gyeongju for the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM), with such meals and bilateral meetings taking place on the sidelines.
He is set to participate in the AELM Sessions, where Apec leaders will discuss ways to promote trade and investment; harness technology such as artificial intelligence for trade; and respond to demographic changes in the Asia-Pacific.
He will also take part in the Apec Business Advisory Council Dialogue.
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After the Apec meetings, PM Wong will make an official visit to Seoul – his introductory visit to South Korea – at the invitation of President Lee Jae Myung, from Nov 1 to 2.
Earlier in October, PM Wong visited Australia and New Zealand in his introductory visit to both countries. In that trip, Singapore and Australia upgraded their bilateral ties to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) 2.0 – a step up from the first version 10 years ago – while Singapore and New Zealand upgraded ties to a CSP.
PM Wong has previously noted that Australia, New Zealand and Canada are among the economic partners who have been keen to work more with Asean.
A possible Canada-Asean free trade agreement was one initiative that PM Wong highlighted at the Asean Summit on Tuesday, saying that he hoped to see further progress by 2027.
Other Apec meetings
From Oct 29 to 30, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Grace Fu and Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Sim Ann also attended the 36th Apec Ministerial Meeting in Gyeongju.
At that meeting, Apec ministers discussed how the group’s economies can leverage digital cooperation for growth and to address regional challenges.
Welcoming South Korea’s initiative to create a collaborative framework for demographic changes, Sim spoke on how AI technology can help to tackle the issue of an ageing population, from improving workplace productivity to handling higher healthcare caseloads.
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