APEC 2025 Summit Week: Towards a Connected and Resilient World

On October 31, 2025, the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting - the main event of the APEC 2025 Summit Week - took place in the city of Gyeongju, South Korea, with the focus on whether members could adopt the "Gyeongju Declaration" amid growing challenges to free trade and multilateralism. (Photo: Yonhap/VNA)

On the morning of October 31, the Asia -Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2025 Summit officially opened in Gyeongju city, southeast of Korea, with the participation of leaders of 21 member economies and representatives of many international organizations.

According to a VNA correspondent in South Korea, in his opening speech at the conference, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung - as APEC Chair 2025 - called on member economies to strengthen cooperation and solidarity to respond to global challenges in the context of the fluctuating free trade order and unstable world economic situation.

President Lee Jae Myung stressed that the world is at a turning point where the international order is changing rapidly. Global trade and investment are weakening, while the technological revolution led by artificial intelligence (AI) brings both unprecedented opportunities and challenges.

He affirmed that only cooperation and solidarity is the solid path towards a more prosperous and sustainable future.

The first discussion session of the Conference on the morning of October 31, with the theme “Towards a more connected and resilient world,” focused on discussing measures to enhance trade and investment cooperation among member economies in the context of increasing trade protectionism.

In his speech at the meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the APEC community to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system and practice genuine multilateralism.

The Chinese president put forward a five-point proposal to build a mutually beneficial and inclusive globalized economy, including joint efforts to safeguard the multilateral trading system, build an open regional economic environment, maintain stability and smooth flow of industrial and supply chains, and promote mutually beneficial and inclusive development.

The APEC 2025 Summit is expected to last two days with many discussion sessions focusing on key topics such as regional cooperation, promoting innovation and shaping the global trade order in the new era./.

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tuan-le-cap-cao-apec-2025-huong-toi-mot-the-gioi-ket-noi-va-tu-cuong-post1074042.vnp