28th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting 2021

 - Declaration

We, the Economic Leaders of APEC met on 12 November 2021. The COVID‐19 pandemic continues to take
lives and impact livelihoods. The evolving nature of the COVID‐19 pandemic and its variants will create ongoing
uncertainty and an uneven economic recovery across the Asia‐Pacific region. Responding to this deepest of
challenges has been a top priority in 2021. In this regard, we are taking steps to ensure growth rebounds
quickly and to boost the global economic recovery.
This year APEC economies have reaffirmed their commitment to join together; to respond to the immediate
crisis generated by the pandemic through urgent work; and to strengthen our cooperation so that our region
can return to growth in a way that is more innovative, inclusive and sustainable.

Responding to COVID‐19

In July, we met to discuss APEC’s response to the COVID‐19 pandemic. We recognised the inequities in
widespread access to COVID‐19 vaccines, and therefore, we continue to strongly support equitable access to
safe, effective, quality‐assured and affordable COVID‐19 vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics, and other related
essential medical products. Because nobody is safe until everyone is safe, we are determined to ensure
extensive immunisation of our people against COVID‐19 as a global public good. It remains a priority that we
expand vaccine manufacture and supply.

In this context, we have demonstrated that trade and investment is a critical enabler for addressing the impact
of the COVID‐19 pandemic and ensuring our economies recover stronger. APEC members will continue work
to:

  - Support global efforts to share vaccines equitably and expand vaccine manufacture and supply, including
    through the voluntary transfer of vaccine production technologies on mutually agreed terms.
  - Facilitate trade in COVID‐19 vaccines and related essential medical products, including by embedding
    digitalised trade facilitation measures and implementing best practices in customs procedures.
  - Build understanding and transparency of the types of border measures taken in response to the pandemic
    and encourage the elimination of unnecessary export restrictions and other non‐tariff barriers.
  - Voluntarily reduce the cost of COVID‐19 vaccines and related essential COVID‐19 medical goods.
  - Ensure that the TRIPS Agreement supports efforts to research, develop, invest in, manufacture, and
    distribute, more COVID‐19 vaccines.
  - Seek a pragmatic, effective, and forward‐looking multilateral response to COVID‐19 at the 12th World
    Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference at the end of this month.

Much of the Asia‐Pacific’s growth has been stimulated by the ability of people to move across borders for
business, tourism, and education. As a result of restrictions on the cross‐border movement of people due to
the COVID‐19 pandemic, unrealised economic activity losses have been substantial. As we each look at
reopening without undermining efforts to prevent the spread of COVID‐19, we support APEC playing a greater
role in promoting information exchange and coordination measures related to cross‐border movement of
people, including in relation to air and maritime crew, and COVID‐19 testing and vaccination certificates. We
will work towards tangible outcomes in 2022.

We are strengthening our health systems to respond to the COVID‐19 pandemic and prepare for future health
threats. We recognise the importance of maintaining ongoing essential health services, improving digital
solutions, pursuing increased health equity and our goal to achieve universal health coverage. We support
deeper regional and international collaboration on COVID‐19, in a way that puts people at the centre of our
response through coordinated, multi‐sectoral approaches and consultation.

The Road to Recovery

While an immediate response to the health challenges posed by the crisis remains essential, we are also now
cooperating on policy responses to the significant economic, social and environmental challenges we will face
in coming years. We have the opportunity to ensure an economic recovery that includes all our people,
supports a more sustainable planet, and ensures that the Asia‐Pacific remains the world’s most dynamic and
interconnected regional economy.

Our macroeconomic policies have played a key role in responding to the impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic,
preserving jobs and livelihoods, funding necessary public services and supporting those most affected by the
pandemic. With the COVID‐19 crisis far from over, we are determined to use all available macroeconomic tools
to address the adverse consequences of COVID‐19 and sustain economic recovery, while preserving long‐term
fiscal sustainability. Our economic recovery will be built on a stable, inclusive, sustainable and resilient
macroeconomic environment that supports innovation, dynamism and improved productivity. In this respect,
we welcome the work of APEC Finance Ministers and in particular, the New Strategy for the Implementation
of the Cebu Action Plan, which contributes to achieving our goal of a more financially integrated, transparent,
resilient, and connected APEC.

We welcome the historic agreement on a more stable and fairer international tax architecture reached in
October. We strongly reaffirm our commitment to promoting tax certainty and tackling tax avoidance and
evasion in the APEC region.

Structural reform will also be a critical tool for promoting economic recovery. We welcome the Enhanced APEC
Agenda for Structural Reform (EAASR), which provides for collaboration on growth‐focused reforms designed
to be inclusive, resilient, sustainable and innovation‐friendly.

The pandemic has highlighted how structural reform of services sectors can be a powerful enabler of economic
growth and inclusion. We note the uneven progress in increasing services competitiveness in the region and
in delivering a more open and predictable environment for access to services markets. We commit to
accelerate work in response to the mid‐term review with the aim of fully implementing the APEC Services
Competitiveness Roadmap (ASCR) by 2025.

We have witnessed a remarkable acceleration in digital adoption and transformation across our economies.
To sustain this enormous growth potential, we will accelerate the implementation of the APEC Internet and
Digital Economy Roadmap (AIDER), further develop digital infrastructure, encourage the development and
application of new technologies, and work towards a digital business environment that is open, fair and
inclusive, including by narrowing the digital divide. We will also strive to implement structural reforms and
increase information sharing regarding our respective domestic policies and practices in support of digital
connectivity and inclusion. We acknowledge the key importance of interoperability of digital systems and tools
across the region. We will also cooperate on facilitating the flow of data, and strengthen consumer and
business trust in digital transactions.

Trade should be a pillar for the development and future prosperity of all our people. At this time of
extraordinary disruption, the rules‐based multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core, can play an
important role in economic recovery. We will engage constructively to ensure MC12 is a success and delivers
concrete outcomes.

We will cooperate to enhance further the role of the WTO in establishing rules that support a free, open, fair,
non‐discriminatory, transparent and predictable trade and investment environment. This approach is at the
core of our long‐standing commitment to the WTO.

We are committed to working together to shape a responsive, relevant and revitalised WTO, in particular
through the necessary reform of the WTO, with a view to improving all its functions. Seized of the opportunity
presented by MC12, our economies will work together with the wider WTO membership to advance efforts to
ensure the organization is delivering for our economies in the twenty‐first century.

We will advance economic integration in the region in a manner that is market‐driven. We support ongoing
efforts to conclude, ratify, implement and upgrade trade agreements in the region that benefit our people and
our businesses. In this context, we will advance the APEC Free Trade Area of the Asia‐Pacific (FTAAP) agenda
in line with implementing the Lima Declaration, to contribute to high quality and comprehensive regional
undertakings. We also note that APEC Business Advisory Council considers the realisation of FTAAP its
preeminent economic priority.

We will intensify efforts to ensure goods continue to flow even under challenging circumstances. APEC’s work
on resilient supply chains, quality infrastructure development and investment, as well as on ports cooperation
are essential components of this work. We will continue to implement the APEC Connectivity Blueprint to
further improve physical, institutional and people‐to‐people connectivity. We are encouraged by APEC work
taking place to strengthen customs cooperation, and to digitalise border processes and increase the uptake of
paperless trading. This work contributes to accelerating APEC’s efforts to implement the WTO Trade
Facilitation Agreement.

We will strive to ensure our recovery efforts are free from the serious threats of corruption, fraud, waste, and
abuse. We will continue to deny safe haven to corruption offenders and their assets. We are committed to
effective, practical, and timely cooperation between competent authorities. We will promote transparency,
accountability, and integrity as a basis for preventing and combatting corruption.

Our Commitment to Sustainability and Inclusion

In 2021, the world continues to confront unprecedented challenges posed by the impacts of climate change.
We acknowledge the need for urgent and concrete action to transition to a climate‐resilient future global
economy and appreciate net zero or carbon neutrality commitments in this regard. We commit to work
together to ensure that our economic and environmental policies are mutually supportive.

APEC has made some progress in strengthening the region’s capacity to adopt renewable energy and other
environmentally sound technologies, as part of sustainable energy transitions that reduce our dependence on
fossil fuels. In this context, we will continue to work together to support energy resilience, access, and security
in the region. We acknowledge the importance of stable energy markets, and supporting clean energy
transitions.

Building on this, we commit to leverage APEC’s role as an incubator of ideas and capacity building to tackle
climate change. We will further integrate action on climate change across relevant APEC workstreams.

We need to support the wellbeing and security of all our people, and their equitable participation in the
economy, so that no one is left behind. Recognising the disproportionate impacts of COVID‐19 on MSMEs,
women and others with untapped economic potential, we are also taking action to drive a more inclusive
economic recovery. The La Serena Roadmap for Women and Inclusive Growth is bringing women’s economic
empowerment to the foreground, with a significant number of initiatives currently underway across APEC. We
support the full and accelerated implementation of this roadmap. APEC has also paid particular attention to
the economic empowerment of other groups with untapped economic potential. This year this has included
Indigenous Peoples and those in rural and remote areas, among others. We will continue to deepen our
cooperation in these areas, where relevant, to ensure their access to economic opportunities, including to
improve access to global markets, and encourage the transition of economic actors from the informal to the
formal economy.

We have provided unprecedented levels of support to all our businesses, including micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSMEs), to help them navigate the crisis. We will continue supporting MSME digital
empowerment by tackling systemic barriers to entrepreneurship and reinforcing capacity building. We will
also deepen our efforts to respond to the impact of the pandemic on labour market participation and the
future of work.

Digital connectivity and innovation are critical across our efforts towards an inclusive, resilient and sustainable
recovery. We need to continue to narrow the digital divide by promoting digital skills, encouraging the
adoption of innovative working methods, expanding access to digital tools and infrastructure, and ensuring
our MSMEs and start‐ups are able to harness new and emerging technologies and digital eco‐systems.

We welcome the Food Security Roadmap Towards 2030. This will guide APEC’s work towards our goal of
sufficient, safe, nutritious, accessible and affordable food for all. We support efforts to reduce food waste and
loss. We will also continue to take concrete measures to implement the APEC Roadmap on Combatting Illegal,
Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing.

Looking forward

Last year we adopted the Putrajaya Vision 2040, which will guide our work for the next twenty years. We
endorse the Aotearoa Plan of Action, which will be key to implementing this Vision. This will inject new
momentum into APEC, at a time when our region faces significant challenges. It demonstrates the confidence
we have in sharing our individual approaches, working together collectively where we can, and being willing
and open to ideas addressing new challenges.

The Aotearoa Plan of Action is designed to be a living document. We will monitor our progress and update it
every five years. All of this in pursuit of our Vision: an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia‐Pacific
community by 2040, for the prosperity of all our people and future generations.

We welcome the outcomes of the 2021 APEC Ministerial Meeting as well as the 2021 sectoral Ministerial
Meetings for Trade, Structural Reform, Food Security, Health, Women and the Economy, Small and Medium
Enterprises, and Finance.

We thank New Zealand for hosting APEC in 2021 and we look forward to APEC in 2022, which will be hosted
by Thailand.

Haumi ē, Hui ē, Tāiki ē
Join, Work, Grow. Together

Annex: Aotearoa Plan of Action(attached)