Senior official of Malaysia's International Trade and Industry Ministry Hairil Yahri Yaacob (Source: berita.mcoba.org) Hanoi (VNA) – Senior officials from the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) economies held a virtual meeting on May 28 todiscuss economic cooperation and open markets to counter the COVID-19 outbreak.
The meeting was chaired by Hairil Yahri Yaacob, a seniorofficial from Malaysia's International Trade and Industry Ministry.
He urged participating economies to prioritise theundisputed flow of essential goods and services across the region.
The official said this was key to ensuring member economies areable to rebound following the wide-ranging economic disruptions caused by theCOVID-19 outbreak.
Necessary lockdowns and social distancing have been or arestill in place region-wide to keep the pandemic from spreading, but theresulting economic slowdown has the potential to cause long-term harms to thelives and livelihoods of millions more, he said.
He called the members to exchange views, review theirresponse to the crisis and formulate a possible coordinated approach tocollecting and sharing information on policies and measures regarding COVID-19and its economic effects.
Malaysia is slated to host the APEC Summit in November.
APEC is a regional economic forum established in 1989 toleverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific, with 21 members./.
