Coronavirus pandemic to be discussed at Apec trade talks led by New Zealand

Trade ministers representing the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) bloc are meeting to discuss the coronavirus pandemic on Saturday, according to the group’s Singapore-based secretariat.

The “virtual” meeting will be chaired by New Zealand’s Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor, who described the pandemic as “the greatest health and economic crisis of our lifetimes,” requiring “Apec’s cooperative response”.

"[Trade] has a vital role to ensure our region prospers economically,” O’Connor said.

Apec member states account for around half of global merchandise trade and include China, Japan and the US, the world’s three biggest economies.

Last month the United Nations estimated that global trade grew by a record 10 per cent in the first quarter of 2021, largely on the back of booming exports from East Asia.