Seoul: South Korea is set to host the second round of the high-level preparatory meeting for the forthcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit next month, as announced by the foreign ministry on Tuesday. The Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) for this multilateral event is scheduled to occur on the southern resort island of Jeju from May 3 to 16.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the meeting will gather around 3,000 government delegates and representatives from the private sectors across 21 APEC member economies. South Korea aims to leverage this occasion to emphasize key agenda items it has introduced for this year's summit. These items include cooperation on artificial intelligence and strategies to address demographic changes.
In conjunction with the main event, there will be ministerial meetings focusing on finance and trade, as well as a series of conferences dedicated to economic and technology cooperation. Discussions will also cover women and economic policy partnerships, among other topics. Additionally, three more SOM sessions are anticipated before the summit, which is scheduled for November.