Russian President Vladimir Putin will start his participation in the APEC summit by delivering a speech at the business summit on Friday, his aide Yury Ushakov said on Wednesday.
“Putin will deliver a major, far-reaching speech, followed by a dinner on his behalf for representatives of the Asia-Pacific business community,” he said.
The business summit will gather more than 500 leading entrepreneurs from Pacific Rim countries. The official part of the APEC summit will be held on September 8-9.
“The agenda [of the September 8 and 9 meetings] includes a detailed discussion of the Russian 2012 APEC presidency’s priorities. An evaluation of the forum’s activities in this period will be made, and plans for the future will be outlined,” Ushakov said.
Among the priorities that Russia has chosen for its APEC presidency are liberalization of trade and investment, regional economic integration, strengthening food security, forming reliable transport and logistics systems and cooperation in attaining innovation growth goals.
At the end of the summit, APEC leaders plan to adopt a joint declaration.
“It will reflect joint approaches to developing APEC cooperation in priority spheres of the Russian presidency,” Ushakov said.
Putin is scheduled to hold a number of bilateral meetings with heads of APEC states and governments on the sidelines of the forum.
The summit will end with the Russian president’s news conference.
This is the first time Russia, an APEC member since 1998, is hosting the summit of the group, created in 1989 to promote economic cooperation among the countries and regions – such as Taipei and Hong Kong – of the Pacific Rim.
Since Russia assumed APEC’s rotating presidency on January 1, it has organized more than 100 events, including ministerial conferences, sessions of committees and working groups, seminars and conferences. More than 50 Russian initiatives have either been implemented or are being put into practice.
Indonesia will assume the forum’s rotating presidency in 2013.