CALOOCAN CITY, (PIA) –President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. will lead the Philippine delegation to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Thailand, where he will push for measures on food and energy security as well as climate change adaptation.

Pres. Marcos, who will leave for Bangkok, Thailand on Wednesday, November 16, will join his fellow heads of state for the annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting from November 16 to 19.

This will be the first time the President will attend the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (AELM) as Philippine head of state.

It will also be the first in-person meeting of the leaders of the APEC economies since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020.

The President will also attend other related summits where he is expected to discuss plans and priorities of the Philippines in terms of trade, investment and post-pandemic economic recovery.

He will also have at least six bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the APEC Summit.

World leaders expected to attend the APEC Summit are Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among other leaders of the organization's 21-member economies.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Teresita Daza earlier said that APEC accounts for about 85 percent of the Philippines' trade abroad, while 82 percent of tourism flows into the country are from members of the forum.

APEC economies also host around 60 percent of Filipinos abroad, who are responsible for 68 percent of remittances to the Philippines, she said.

The Philippines, a founding member of the forum, hosted the APEC meetings in 1996 and 2015.

The APEC serves as the premier Asia-Pacific economic forum established in 1989 with the primary goal of supporting sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

APEC's 21 member-economies are home to more than 2.9 billion people and make up over 60 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).

APEC membership includes Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese-Taipei, Thailand and the United States of America. (pia-ncr)