BANGKOK, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday urged APEC economies to join hands to achieve sustainable growth amid global challenges at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit.
Prayut made the remarks when delivering a keynote speech at the summit, saying Thailand, the host of this year's APEC meetings, is implementing a development plan on bio-circular-green economy by leveraging new technologies.
Thailand has made sustainability a top priority for APEC this year, said Prayut, calling for joint efforts to protect the environment and develop more sustainable ways of doing business.
Providing opportunities for CEOs and top business executives to engage in dialogue with leaders from the APEC economies, this year's APEC CEO Summit, under the theme "Embrace, Engage, Enable," involves topics of inclusive growth and development, sustainability, innovation, healthcare, food security, digitalization, and gender equity.
The CEO summit came ahead of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, which will kick off on Friday with economic recovery and sustainable growth high on the agenda.
APEC is a premier regional economic forum established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific. With nearly 40 percent of the world population, its 21 member economies account for about half of global trade and over 60 percent of the world's total gross domestic product.
The APEC economies aim to create greater prosperity for the people of the region by promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth and by accelerating regional economic integration. ■