1. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting (CSOM) was held in San Francisco, the United States, for two days, from November 11 to 12.

2. From the Korean side, Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kang Jae-kwon, Korea’s APEC Senior Official, attended the meeting, in which participants conducted a final review of this year's achievements and discussed the way forward for future cooperation, ahead of  the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (Nov. 15-17) and the APEC Ministerial Meeting (Nov. 14-15).

3. APEC Senior Officials assessed that diverse discussions and activities were conducted this year under the priorities of interconnected, innovative and inclusive proposed by the U.S., the host economy. They also shared the view that amid the ongoing economic instability in the Asia-Pacific region due to geopolitical tensions, there is a need to overcome this situation by promoting free trade and investment, fostering innovation and digitalization, and expanding sustainability and inclusivity.

4. Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Kang introduced Korea’s accomplishments, including the “4th Phase of the Capacity Building Needs Initiative (CBNI),” the “Supply Chain Forum for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Asia-Pacific Region” and the projects of the “APEC Learning Community Builders,” and requested the attention and participation of member economies in these initiatives.

5. The Senior Officials reviewed the achievements this year of APEC subsidiary bodies, including the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), the Economic Committee (EC), the Senior Officials’ Meeting Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE), the Budget and Management Committee (BMC), the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), and the Policy Support Unit (PSU).

6. Additionally, the Senior Officials endorsed reports from each committee, the 2023 APEC Economic Policy Report (AEPR), and documents related to anti-corruption thematic areas, and welcomed the Digital Economy Steering Group (DESG)’s analysis of member economies' activities in the digital economy sector through the 2023 APEC Internet and Digital Economy Roadmap (AIDER) implementation report.

7. On the occasion of the CSOM, Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Kang met with other participants, including Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat Rebecca Fatima and Peru’s SOM Chair for 2024 Carlos Vasquez, and discussed Peru’s and Korea’s plans for hosting APEC in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

8. The APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting will be held under the theme “Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All” in San Francisco, the U.S., from November 15 to 17.