00:00So much on the agendas I mentioned, especially given that Korea does want a Kyongju declaration,
00:05but we've seen when President Trump has been in one of these meetings that those declarations are pretty hard.
00:11Do you expect one?
00:12I do. Korea has been extremely successful, despite all the difficulties, in getting joint ministerial statements throughout the year.
00:21So we've counted about 12 this year.
00:23So we're looking for another successful joint ministerial statement and also one from the leaders' declaration.
00:30In spite of the difficulties we face, especially on the trade front, trade ministers agreed to a joint statement earlier this May.
00:39It's been interesting that we have been focusing so much on these bilateral meetings.
00:44Even here at APEC, a multilateral setting, the focus is very much on President Trump and President Xi Jinping.
00:50How relevant are these multilateral groupings these days?
00:54Well, the first is that these groups provide a platform for the bilateral deals to actually take place.
01:01As you've mentioned, President Xi and President Trump have been supposed to meet all year long.
01:07Finally, it's come right here in Kyongju at an APEC meeting.
01:12Do you expect something significant to come out from these bilaterals?
01:16Well, we hope so.
01:19The recent ASEAN meetings came up with some very successful deals, so hopefully we'll see some here as well.
01:26You noted earlier this year that the trade rulebook is actually dated.
01:30But what sort of consensus can we expect, especially when you have this setting, multilateral, where so many countries are involved in trying to get their say in whatever comes out?
01:41One of the problems with the rulebook is it just hasn't moved on since the 1990s.
01:47So what we can do here is to sort of take an incubator approach to think through what do we need to do in this ever-changing world, especially with new technologies like artificial intelligence.
02:01So that's what we're looking to be delivered here in these meetings.
02:04What the United States and many other countries want vis-Ã -vis China, for example, is a fair playing ground, right?
02:11When it comes to setting the agenda for APEC 2026, if we do not get some significant progress out of these conversations between the U.S. and China,
02:21could that have a meaningful impact on how all of these other countries interact as well?
02:25I think we're just going to keep our eyes on the future.
02:29There may be difficulties and bumps along the road, but APEC is very much a forward-looking organization.
02:37So we'll take what we can, think through cooperation and where common ground is.
02:42And that's very much the APEC way.
02:44And it's very important for the private sector to actually have a say in how you shape up the framework of what the economic future should look like, right?
02:52At the APEC CEO Summit, what are you expecting business leaders to focus on?
02:58I think businesses today are looking for a certain amount of certainty about the environment in which they're operating.
03:07Investments have been in a way held off.
03:10We're seeing volatility.
03:11We're seeing uncertainty.
03:13But one of the things groups like APEC can do is try to unbundle some of the complexity.
03:18As we've said earlier, trade deals are on the road.
03:23So these deals help to navigate our way through this environment.
03:29You mentioned other sectors such as artificial intelligence as also a core focus of these conversations.
03:35We have seen an incredible rally on anything AI related.
03:39What sort of discussions can we expect at APEC that could help shape the future of how this technology evolves?
03:45Well, APEC is not a rulemaking body, but the way we look at it is as a way for us to move forward and bring benefits to our people.
03:57So that's really something that APEC takes very differently from other organizations.
04:02It's how do we innovate, how do we create an environment which leads to better innovations and facilitates the development of technologies that are better in sectors like health, like education, and so on.
04:19Korea has made AI one of its core items on this year's APEC agenda.
04:24Asia, how significant is Asia in the development of tech?
04:29Well, Asia, as I'm sure you know, has really been one of the growth centers.
04:33It's moving very quickly.
04:35So what we're looking for is trying to get a framework, if you like, for how can we work together on AI issues.
04:44We don't want to spend so much money on redundant investments.
04:48It's working together to make sure that we find our own advantages in this growing ecosystem.
04:55Especially when you need to sort of establish the baseline for AI ethics, not to mention security.
05:01That's right.
05:02So AI ethics, AI security, for us this is really about sort of having a people-centric, human-centric approach.
05:10So we'll look at safety with respect to making sure that privacy is respected and people can find a way to trust AI, given that we all don't know what's inside the black box.
05:22Can Asia-Pacific lead when it comes to these changes?
05:26I think everyone in the Asia-Pacific would like to work together to unbundle what it is and see through what the black boxes are.
05:34So it's about cooperation.
05:35People don't actually know and say one part of Asia compared to another.
05:41So that's where thinking through interoperability is incredibly important.
05:47Lots of conversations to be had.
05:49But how challenging was it to actually organize this event?
05:52Because we know that South Korea went through a transition of government.
05:57Gyeongju was decided on by the former Yoon Se-yeol administration.
06:01We know the logistics have been difficult, the lack of hotels.
06:04We had a very difficult time trying to get into the venue this morning.
06:09Will things get better from here?
06:11And what are still the opportunities to be had?
06:14Well, definitely it was difficult to get into the conference center.
06:18But this does happen almost every APEC meeting.
06:22Now, what we can think about is, you know, what is it that we want from these meetings?
06:29Why Gyeongju?
06:30I mean, it is the sort of historical capital of the Chile Empire.
06:35So in a way, there's sort of some symmetry that's being created between the past and the future.
06:40What sort of cooperation have you had with South Korea in bringing this event to fruition,
06:45especially, as I mentioned, since we saw this change in government?
06:48There's actually been a surprising amount of stability.
06:52You know, there were worries at the beginning of the year whether changes would make it difficult for the meetings to take place.
07:00But the government in Korea has been extremely cooperative and found ways to make all of this happen,
07:07in spite of the changes that we've seen.
07:09When it comes to the next round of conversations that we're expecting during the next APEC,
07:16what could be some of the takeaways from this summit?
07:18For this summit, it's going to build the foundations for future work.
07:23APEC sort of works incrementally.
07:26So working from one issue to another, say, from the environment.
07:30And then this year, we've been looking at AI.
07:33I don't know what will happen next year.
07:36China is the next host.
07:37So it'll be interesting to see what China has as its focus next year.
07:43The geopolitical and trade tensions, for example, how much do they impact setting up these conversations?
07:49Well, they're definitely in the background.
07:51But for APEC members, it's really about doing things that are in their self-interest.
07:55So how do you make growth work for the people?
07:59And that's something that APEC is quite unusual in the way that we all work together.
08:04But it's not a trade-off mechanism, but a way to find better growth, better jobs for people in the region.
Be the first to comment