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PM Lee heads to Vietnam for Apec summit

SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be in Danang, Vietnam, on Friday (Nov 10) and Saturday to attend the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be in Danang, Vietnam, on Friday (Nov 10) and Saturday to attend the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Economic Leaders’ Meeting. TODAY file photo

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be in Danang, Vietnam, on Friday (Nov 10) and Saturday to attend the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Economic Leaders’ Meeting. TODAY file photo

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SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be in Danang, Vietnam, on Friday (Nov 10) and Saturday to attend the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

He will be accompanied by Mrs Lee and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

During his absence, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will be Acting Prime Minister.

At the two-day meet in Vietnam, PM Lee and other leaders of the 21-member forum will discuss ways to promote closer regional economic integration, and foster greater inclusive and sustainable growth in the region.

He will also hold bilateral meetings with other Apec leaders on the sidelines of the meeting.

Apart from Singapore and Vietnam, Apec’s members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and the US.

About half of the leaders there are also expected to take part in the Apec CEO summit, a platform for top business and government leaders to discuss trade reforms. United States president Donald Trump is to deliver a keynote speech, along with China’s Xi Jinping.

The White House had said that Mr Trump would present “the United States’ vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region and underscore the important role the region plays in advancing America’s economic prosperity”.

The Associated Press reported that Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe is leading the effort among the 11 members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal to revise the initiative during talks on the sidelines of the Apec meetings.

He has reportedly pledged to do his utmost to get fellow leaders of countries participating in the TPP to stick with the plan, despite Mr Trump calling it a “job-killing” free trade agreement and withdrawing the US from the pact in January this year.

Last month, PM Lee told CNBC that he did not think it is time yet to start new initiatives multilaterally with the US, when asked if Singapore would convince the US to rejoin the TPP.

However, he also said that trade ministers of the remaining 11 countries have been meeting to discuss the issue and there could be new developments at the Apec meet.

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