Today President Joseph R. Biden Jr. participated in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Virtual Leaders’ Meeting hosted by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand. Leaders endorsed the Aotearoa Plan of Action for an economic agenda that delivers for our workers, families, and businesses. During the meeting, President Biden underscored his commitment to strengthening our relationship with APEC economies in order to advance fair and open trade and investment, bolster American competitiveness, and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. The Leaders discussed ongoing efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic and support the global economic recovery. The President noted that the United States has donated and shipped more than 220 million vaccine doses so far, including 64 million to APEC economies, and pledged that we will continue to share doses, invest in manufacturing abroad, and work with APEC economies to build global health security.

President Biden reaffirmed our interest in serving as a strong, reliable partner to APEC economies as we pursue sustained and inclusive growth. The President discussed ways to unleash the economic power of the region and to deepen U.S. economic engagement throughout the Indo-Pacific. He articulated how we can work together to establish a common way forward for digital technologies in order to promote an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet, invest in robust cybersecurity, and develop digital economy standards that will position all of our economies for the future. He spoke about how the climate crisis is also an enormous opportunity to create good jobs and that we must work together to move towards a sustainable future.

The meeting builds on President Biden’s ongoing engagements in the Indo-Pacific region, including the July APEC meeting, the October US-ASEAN and East Asia Summits, and other Leader-level engagements. At the East Asia Summit, President Biden announced that the United States will explore with partners the development of an Indo-Pacific economic framework that will define our shared objectives around trade facilitation, standards for the digital economy and technology, supply chain resiliency, decarbonization and clean energy, infrastructure, worker standards, and other areas of shared interest.

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