APEC First Senior Officials’ Meeting Strengthens Multilateral Cooperation

The United States was proud to host the APEC First Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1), from February 14 to 28, in Palm Springs, California. More than 1,500 Senior Officials and delegates from APEC’s  21 member economies gathered to discuss substantive and cross-cutting issues for the Asia-Pacific region in more than 100 technical meetings, working groups, and workshops. They also engaged bilaterally with counterparts and participated in field trips and excursions to gain an understanding of the breadth of work being done in the United States that aligns with the APEC priorities.

• Under the priority of “Interconnected,” they discussed how APEC could take forward work on supply chain resilience, digital trade, and connectivity including infrastructure, and expand opportunities for SMEs.
• Under “Innovative,” they explored ways to address climate change and environmental sustainability, food security, good regulatory practices, health, anti-corruption, digitalization, and fostering an enabling environment.
• Finally, under the third priority of “Inclusive,” they looked at how APEC can align its work on inclusive growth for workers and groups with untapped economic potential including, women, SMEs, and historically underserved and underrepresented communities.

By fostering cooperation, delegates are taking a crucial step toward promoting economic prosperity, advancing innovation, and enabling inclusive and balanced growth, making sure that all members of society can fully participate in the economy around the Asia-Pacific region.

The private sector also played an important role in these meetings as U.S. officials participated in policy partnership discussions and met with a range of representatives from area businesses, indigenous-owned businesses, and the local government and community to collaborate on advancing an innovative and practical economic agenda that benefits workers, businesses, underserved communities, women, and families in the United States and across the region.

The United States looks forward to continuing these efforts during our host year under the theme “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All” as well as to hosting further APEC meeting clusters that will lay the groundwork for ministers’ meetings and provide a forum for officials to discuss the important ongoing work. The next meetings are to take place in Detroit, Michigan (May 2023); Seattle, Washington (August 2023); and San Francisco, California (November 2023).

Learn more about the U.S. APEC 2023 host year here.

For further information, please contact the U.S. APEC Team at DOSAPEC@state.gov.