The President will attend the 18th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, scheduled to take place in Yokohama, Japan, on November 13-14.

Under the theme of “Change and Action”, the President and other APEC leaders will discuss new growth strategies, liberalization of trade, investment in the Asia-Pacific region, economic integration of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), progress on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations and assessment of the implementation of the Bogor Goals.

As part of the Bogor Goals, advanced countries agreed to liberalize trade and investment by 2010 and developing countries by 2020. The goals were adopted at the Economic Leaders'' Meeting in Bogor, Indonesia, in 1994. Thirteen countries, including Korea, Japan and the United States, will be assessed at the Yokohama summit.

Since the upcoming APEC summit will be held right after the G20 Seoul Summit, the President hopes to act as a bridge between APEC and the G20 by explaining the main agreements of the G20 to APEC members.

Seoul has pledged to do everything in its power to achieve liberalization of trade, increase investment in the Asia-Pacific region and broaden common understanding for an early settlement of the DDA.

Meanwhile, the President will hold a series of summit meetings with the heads of APEC member economies to discuss issues of mutual interest.