Thailand

Thailand, the host of the APEC summit, urged leaders of the group meeting to “rise above differences” and focus on resolving pressing global economic issues in areas such as trade and inflation. The meeting is being held in Bangkok on Friday and Saturday.

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Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron told Asian countries that the conflict in Ukraine was "your problem too" and asked them to join the "increasing consensus" against it.

World leaders started arriving for the APEC summit, the third back-to-back summit of this week after COP27 and G20 summits, from Friday (November 18). This year's theme and focus is "Open. Connect. Balance", and world leaders will discuss among themselves the possible geopolitical roles that they can play with the ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Australian PM Anthony Albanese will be among many other world leaders attending the summit. 

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APEC is the group of 21 countries in the Pacific Rim region that focus on the economy of the region, and also discuss and make strategies in promoting free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. With its headquarters in Singapore, APEC is considered as one of the oldest international forums in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Xi and Kishida's bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit is one of the high-profile talks at the forum, especially when China and Japan's relations have been strained due to their historical past and security concerns. 

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In a pre-summit event, Thailand PM Prayuth Chan-ocha, who is also the host of this year's summit, said the forum would focus on “new trade and investment narratives” and “the need to reconnect supply chains and travel, and the global sustainability agenda”.

(With inputs from agencies)

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