Six APEC Leaders, 20 Ministers to Address APEC CEO Summit in Vancouver

November 20, 1997

Six APEC Leaders and 20 ministers of trade and foreign affairs will be among the 80 distinguished speakers addressing more than 200 of Asia Pacific’s pre-eminent business leaders at the first APEC CEO Summit, taking place at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver from November 21 – 24, 1997.

The APEC CEO Summit is a private-sector counterpart to the APEC Leaders’ Meeting, organized by the Business Council on National Issues (BCNI) and the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC). The CEO Summit will provide a forum for participating chief executives to discuss business strategies in the current economic and political environment in Asia Pacific.

The six Leaders who have agreed to address the CEO Summit are: The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada; The Honourable Tung Chee Hwa, The Chief Executive, Hong Kong, China; His Excellency Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, President of Mexico; The Honourable John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia; His Excellency Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia; and His Excellency Jiang Zemin, President of the People’s Republic of China.

Other speakers include The Honorable Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State, The Honorable William Daley, Secretary of Commerce and Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, United States Trade Representative, all of the United States; The Right Honourable Sir Leon Brittan, Vice-President, European Commission, European Union; and His Excellency Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, Thailand.

Also speaking will be ministers representing Australia; Canada; Chile; People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Mexico; New Zealand; Philippines; and Thailand; as well as a host of the leading business figures in the Asia Pacific region.

“The tremendous interest in this first APEC CEO Summit shows that governments appreciate the critical role the private sector is playing and must continue to play in helping the economies of the Asia Pacific region deal successfully with the challenges they face today,” said Thomas d’Aquino, President and Chief Executive of the BCNI, CEO Summit Co-Chair and Chairman of the Organizing Committee.

“Ensuring that trade and investment liberalization and economic growth provide the widest possible benefits to citizens and societies should be a hallmark of Asia Pacific entrepreneurship,” he added.

The agenda for the APEC CEO Summit includes sessions on: currency turmoil and its impact on the region’s economic prospects; business strategy in the current environment; the pace of economic and trade liberalization; sustainable development; technology transfer and the protection of intellectual property; infrastructure requirements; capital markets and financing; and security, stability and business confidence.

“At this meeting, our primary objective is not to give advice to governments, but to exchange frank views on what business leaders in Asia Pacific must do to encourage the continuing spread of prosperity throughout the region,” said Paul O’Donoghue, Chairman, Canadian Committee, PBEC, and CEO Summit Co-Chair.

A non-partisan and not-for-profit organization, the BCNI is composed of 150 chief executives of leading Canadian corporations. These companies represent every major sector of the Canadian economy and are responsible for a large majority of Canada’s private sector investment, exports, training, and research and development. With about 1.5 million employees, member companies administer in excess of C$1.7 trillion in assets and have annual turnover of close to C$500 billion.

PBEC is the oldest, most prominent international business organization in the Asia Pacific region, representing 1,100 corporations from 20 economies. It is dedicated to expanding trade and investment through fostering open markets.