By PBEC Executive Director – December 2024
DECEMBER 2024: A PBEC update on APEC 2025 agenda hosted by South Korea: Korea launched its chairmanship of APEC 2025, the first time in two decades that the nation is hosting the global forum, on Monday 11th December 2024 with the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting (ISOM) Symposium held in Seoul against a backdrop of political uncertainty over the past week.
The symposium, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, set the stage for APEC’s 2025 agenda under the theme, “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow: Connect, Innovate, Prosper.” It brought together some 170 senior officials from APEC member economies, including representatives from the APEC & PECC Secretariat and domestic government officials.
“Discussions on digitalization and new technologies such as AI will be held across all sectors since such developments have already impacted nearly all aspects of our lives,” Kang In-sun, the second vice minister of foreign affairs said in her English-language opening remarks. “We will also seek cooperation on the declining birth rate and aging population, urgent issues faced by some economies in the region.”
The APEC economic leaders’ summit, scheduled to be held in Gyeongju in November 2025, is expected to be the largest international event hosted since the last event was held in Busan in 2005. In particular, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to make his first visit to South Korea since his re-election, and Chinese President Xi Jinping will also visit South Korea for the first time in over a decade for this event. The agenda reflects Korea’s commitment to fostering economic cooperation and addressing pressing regional issues despite its own current domestic woes.
Here are the key components PBEC has observed of the coming year’s agenda:
- Main Theme and Priorities:
- The overarching theme for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) is “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow.”
- Three main priorities have been identified:
- Connect: Enhancing connectivity among APEC economies.
- Innovate: Promoting innovation and the adoption of new technologies.
- Prosper: Fostering inclusive economic growth and prosperity across the region.
- Key Meetings and Locations:
- The AELM is scheduled to take place in Gyeongju in late November 2025.
- Various Senior Officials’ Meetings (SOMs) and Ministerial meetings will be held in different cities:
- Seoul: Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting (ISOM) just completed this week.
- Gyeongju: Deputy Finance Ministers’ Meeting and the first SOM meeting.
- Busan: APEC Ocean-Related Ministerial Meeting and Energy Ministers’ Meeting.
- Jeju: Meetings for Trade, Education, Human Resources Development, and Small and Medium Enterprises.
- Incheon: Digital Ministerial Meeting and other sectoral meetings.
- Focus Areas for Policy Recommendation Discussions:
- The agenda will include discussions on both traditional and emerging issues, such as:
- Digitalization and new technologies, including artificial intelligence.
- Addressing demographic challenges like declining birth rates and aging populations in the region.
- The agenda will include discussions on both traditional and emerging issues, such as:
- Business Events:
- Alongside the AELM, South Korea plans to host business events aimed at promoting trade and investment, including talks between the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and business leaders from member economies and other organizations such as PECC & PBEC.
- Commitment to Successfully Hosting the events:
- Despite recent political challenges, South Korea has reiterated its commitment to successfully hosting APEC 2025 and ensuring that all meetings proceed as planned throughout the year in a safe and secure environment.
Artificial Intelligence is top of mind for leaders
As APEC 2025 focuses on artificial intelligence (AI), various economies within the region have developed and planned distinct and overlapping policies related to AI. Here is a brief reminder of the state of play within the AI policy arena within APEC, there are some common and unique policies among the APEC economies to have in mind:
Common Policies
- AI Ethical Guidelines:
- Many APEC economies, including Japan, South Korea, and Australia, are adopting ethical guidelines for AI development and deployment. These guidelines often emphasize transparency, accountability, and fairness.
- Investment in AI Research and Development:
- Economies like the United States, China, and Singapore are significantly investing in AI R&D, aiming to foster innovation and maintain global competitiveness. China and US are in strategic competition for dominance in this field and see it as part of their respective national security agendas which is something APEC economies need to grabble with especially in supply chain management.
- AI Talent Development:
- A focus on education and workforce training for AI skills is common, with countries like Canada and New Zealand implementing programs to enhance digital literacy and technical skills, whilst balancing to protect younger children from over exposure too early.
- Public-Private Partnerships:
- Collaborations between governments and private sectors to accelerate AI adoption and address regulatory challenges are prevalent in economies such as Australia, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
- Data Governance Frameworks:
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- Countries like South Korea and Japan are advancing data governance policies that facilitate data sharing while protecting privacy, which is essential for AI training and application.
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Unique Policies
- China:
- China has a national AI strategy that aims to become a global leader in AI by 2030, emphasizing state support for AI startups and research initiatives.
- United States:
- The U.S. focuses on promoting innovation through deregulation and has initiatives like the National AI Initiative Act, which coordinates federal investment in AI across various sectors.
- Singapore:
- Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative includes specific AI projects aimed at enhancing urban living, such as traffic management systems and public service automation.
- Japan:
- Japan is focusing on integrating AI into its aging society, with policies aimed at using AI in healthcare and elder care to improve quality of life.
- Indonesia:
- Indonesia is developing a national AI roadmap that includes a focus on AI for social good, particularly in areas such as agriculture and disaster management.
- Vietnam:
- Vietnam has initiated a national strategy on AI development that emphasizes local startups and aims to position the country as a regional hub for AI technology.
- Hong Kong:
- HK Govt launched its Responsible Application of Artificial Intelligence in Financial Market initiative. They plan to adopt a dual-track approach to promote development of AI adoption by the financial services sector, while at the same time addressing the potential challenges, such as cybersecurity, data privacy and protection of intellectual property rights.
Future Plans for 2025
- Collaborative AI Frameworks: APEC economies are seeking further collaborative frameworks for AI governance, allowing for shared standards and practices.
- Cross-Border Data Flow Policies: Discussions on harmonizing data flow regulations are crucial, ensuring that data privacy and security are maintained while fostering innovation, without allowing national security laws to hinder non-threatening measures to create international data laws.
- Focus on AI in Sustainable Development: Many economies plan to integrate AI strategies with their sustainability goals, aiming to leverage AI for environmental protection and resource management.
In Conclusion
But while AI can be immensely powerful in data analysis and logic, it fares less well on policy-relevant concepts such as fairness, justice and equity, which are inherently human. The ability of AI to make sense of human reality, including understanding causality and cultural nuances, remains inadequate.
Factors such as biases, prejudices or experience can influence AI algorithms and models and, ultimately, the results generated. There are still limitations in the use of AI in policymaking, and any new policies under consideration must ensure that the AI-augmented future remains human-centric. APEC economies share common goals in promoting ethical AI and enhancing skills, but they also have unique strategies tailored to their specific socio-economic contexts and own technological ambitions.
It’s going to be another interesting year ahead for the region.
Editor: Michael Walsh PBEC Executive Director
References:
https://www.mk.co.kr/en/politics/11169821
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APEC_South_Korea_2025
https://www.apec.org/publications/2022/11/artificial-intelligence-in-economic-policymaking