Join, Work, Grow. Together: New Zealand Begins a Fully Digital Host Year

Media registration for the first 2021 APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1) and related meetings from 18 February to 12 March is now open.

At this first formal meeting cluster hosted by New Zealand, close to 1,500 policymakers, business leaders and experts from the 21 APEC member economies will convene virtually to advance progress on pressing issues to boost economic recovery from the digital economy to health, food security and customs procedures.

The four-week long set of meetings will culminate when senior officials convene to track progress and deliberate on the plan for the forum to achieve the recently agreed Putrajaya Vision 2040, in which APEC Leaders declared that they envisioned “an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific community by 2040, for the prosperity of all our people and future generations.” 

“Twenty-one APEC economies agreed to a vision that aims to greatly improve the lives of people in this region of three billion people,” said Vangelis Vitalis, 2021 Chair of APEC Senior Officials.

“The Vision’s implementation plan will be the key focus for members this year and as the host of APEC 2021, New Zealand has a chance to make a positive, tangible impact on the entire Asia-Pacific, and those living in it,” added Vitalis who is Deputy Secretary (Trade and Economic) for New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

With more than 70 percent of its trade coming from APEC economies, New Zealand is committed to charting a recovery and reigniting growth, leading the forum under the 2021 guiding theme of “Join, Work, Grow. Together” and organizing APEC’s agenda around three policy priorities:

• Economic and trade policies that strengthen recovery, with a focus on the right macroeconomic, microeconomic and trade policy choices;
• Increasing inclusion and sustainability for recovery by building a better society for all people and generating a green recovery; and
• Pursuing innovation and a digitally enabled recovery by accelerating the APEC region’s work in these areas.

WATCH: Join, Work, Grow. Together | Haumi ē, Hui ē, Tāiki ē.

“As economies around the region undertake their recovery journey, international cooperation remains crucial for addressing complex issues and bottlenecks that impact digital trade and the movement of goods and people,” said Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, Dr Rebecca Sta Maria.

“New Zealand as the champion of free and open trade and is very well positioned to lead the forum as we join, work, and grow together to achieve better growth and resiliency,” Dr Sta Maria added.

Media registration and opportunities

A media conference will be held as senior officials prepare for their final meeting day and will provide members of the media an opportunity to get to know more about New Zealand’s host year, APEC 2021 key deliverables and New Zealand’s policy priorities.

Date                     : Thursday, 11 March 2020

Time                     : 08:00 (SG) or 13:00 (NZ)

Speakers              : 2021 Chair of APEC Senior Officials, Vangelis Vitalis

                               APEC Secretariat Executive Director, Dr Rebecca Sta Maria

Members of the media who belong to member economies’ delegations, must be registered by their economy’s media accreditation officer through the APEC 2021 registration portal.

For members of the media who are not part of member economies’ delegations and wish to register as a media delegate, registration can be done by emailing [email protected] and providing the following information:

• Given name and surname
• Email address
• Media organization
• Letter confirming employment with media organization’s letterhead

Registered media will be contacted by the APEC 2021 New Zealand team to complete the registration process. Once the registration process is completed, media delegates will have access to the media conference and other materials for publishing, including speeches, video footage and photos. The deadline for media registration is Friday, 5 March 2021.

Additional resources for media

To access the first Senior Officials’ Meeting media kit, follow this link.

For more information on APEC 2021 New Zealand, visit www.apec2021nz.org.

To view the 2021 meeting calendar, please visit this link.

For further details, please contact:

Cas Carter +64 21 341 509 at [email protected] (in New Zealand)
Michael Chapnick +65 9647 4847 at [email protected]
Masyitha Baziad +65 9751 2146 at [email protected]