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Duterte to APEC: Ensure COVID-19 vaccine access, free trade for all

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<div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/rtvmalacanang/videos/408310937007905/?v=408310937007905" data-width="auto"> </div><p>MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday called on the member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to ensure unhampered access to medical supplies and technologies for all, especially the future COVID-19 vaccine, amid the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>&quot;We have to ensure the unimpeded flow of medical supplies and technologies especially COVID-19 vaccines. It is a folly to assume that there can be pockets of safe havens in face of a global pandemic. We have to defeat the virus everywhere or no one is safe,&quot; Duterte said in his speech at the online APEC forum hosted by Malaysia this year.</p><p>&quot;To do this, we need to strengthen partnership to make vaccines a global public good,&quot; he said.</p><p>Duterte said information &quot;is the key to effective response and mitigation efforts&quot; amid the pandemic.</p><p>&quot;We welcome Malaysia&#x27;s initiative to establish a COVID live online portal precisely for sharing of best practices,&quot; he said.</p><p>He also called for &quot;free, open and fair&quot; trade among APEC members.</p><p>&quot;This is key to achieving sustained and inclusive economic recovery, where APEC will play an important role,&quot; he said.</p><p>Leaders of the 21 Pacific Rim economies, which account for about 60 percent of global GDP, discussed the response to the deadly disease and adopt a new vision for post-pandemic cooperation in the region.</p><p>APEC members are set to adopt the APEC Post-2020 Vision, which will replace the 1994 Bogor Goals, in setting the forum&#x27;s objectives for promoting free trade and regional connectivity in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic,</p><p>&quot;The COVID-19 pandemic has had a lasting impact on the way we view trade and economic priorities within APEC,&quot; Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in his opening remarks.</p><p>&quot;We need to trade and invest our way out of the current economic downturn. We must come together and work constructively towards navigating the region along a path of robust, inclusive and sustainable economic recovery and growth,&quot; he said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/11/20/20/apec-leaders-meet-to-discuss-cooperation-on-covid-19-response">APEC leaders meet to discuss cooperation on COVID-19 response</a></li></ul><p>Founded in 1989, APEC is a platform for discussions on free trade and economic cooperation by Pacific Rim countries covering 37 percent of the global population, including 48 percent of the world&#x27;s trade volume.</p><p>The group consists of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.--With a report from Kyodo News</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zyztezzFls0?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday called on the member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation to assure an unhampered access to medical supplies and technologies for all, especially the future COVID-19 vaccine, amid the coronavirus pandemic.</p>

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday called on the member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation to assure an unhampered access to medical supplies and technologies for all, especially the future COVID-19 vaccine, amid the coronavirus pandemic.