THE Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies have decided to approve a road map for APEC’s contribution to the realization of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), marking the official launch of the FTAAP process, President Xi Jinping said in Beijing yesterday.

    The move was “a historic step we took in the direction towards realizing the FTAAP,” he made the remarks at a press conference after the conclusion of the 22nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

    “It demonstrated the confidence and determination of the APEC in advancing regional economic integration, and it was a decision that will be written into history books,” he said.

    The 21-member APEC, including the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Canada, groups countries that account for 40 percent of the world’s population, 54 percent of its economic output and 44 percent of trade.

    “Currently, the global economic recovery still faces many unstable and uncertain factors. Facing the new situation, we should further promote regional economic integration and create a pattern of opening up that is conducive to long-term development,” Xi said.

    “We should vigorously promote the Asia-Pacific free trade zone, setting the goal, direction and road map and turn the vision into reality as soon as possible.”

    Also yesterday, APEC members adopted a blueprint to promote regional connectivity by 2025.

    The APEC members set the target to enhance physical, institutional and people-to-people connectivity by 2025 and agreed to invest in enhancing connectivity in the Asia-Pacific in all dimensions according to the blueprint, Xi said.

    The APEC members will focus on raising more funds for infrastructure development and breaking the financing bottleneck, for example through public-private partnership, Xi said.

    (Xinhua)

    (More APEC stories on P4)