Lima/Sydney (Australia), Nov 14 (EFE).- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated from Lima that his objective will be to advocate for “free and fair trade” during the APEC leaders’ summit this week, in a context of possible new tariffs after Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
“We are a trading nation. One in four jobs in Australia depends on trade. That will be our objective in the meetings in the coming days,” Albanese said upon his arrival in Lima on Wednesday, according to a transcript sent this Thursday by the Office of the Prime minister.
Albanese was thus answering a journalist’s question about whether he supported a joint agreement at the summit of leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) against the imposition of tariffs by the new US administration under Trump.
The defense of free trade is thus expected to be one of the key issues of the summit. “This is about improving Australia’s living standards, ensuring we can export from our region to the world,” Albanese said from the tarmac.
“There will also be discussions on reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to ensure that free and fair trade benefits our region and the world,” the Labor leader said.
Albanese arrived around 1:10 p.m. local time (6:10 p.m. GMT) on Wednesday at Air Group Number 8, a military base attached to Lima’s international airport.
The president was received by the Peruvian Minister of Development and Social Inclusion, Julio Demartini, representing President Dina Boluarte, who was at that time meeting with the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, as part of her official visit.
“At APEC, the Prime Minister will continue Australia’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between our region’s growing economies. The Prime Minister will promote greater regional economic integration and free and open trade in the Asia-Pacific,” said a statement from Albanese’s office released Tuesday.
Albanese will participate from Thursday in the APEC leaders’ summit, which will bring together in the Peruvian capital dignitaries and high representatives of the 21 economies that make up the economic forum, including the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. EFE
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