PECC Media Roundtable: APEC 2015 | Manila, Philippines | December 12, 2014

Media Roundtable 2 The Philippines, as the host of APEC in 2015, held the APEC Informal Senior Officials' Meeting (ISOM) in Manila on 8-9 December 2014 in preparation for the following year's agenda under the main theme of inclusive economic growth. On this occasion, PECC organized a media roundtable over lunch on the 12th that gathered foreign correspondents and local media representatives covering economic and trade news to discuss some of the issues on the APEC 2015 agenda and to gauge media's interest. Fact sheets on Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and a glossary of trade terms frequently used by PECC and APEC were distributed at the roundtable cum briefing. Undersecretary Laura Del Rosario, the Philippine senior official for APEC and incoming SOM chair from the Department of Foreign Affairs delivered opening remarks as the guest-of-honor and informed the media of the prioritized issues that were raised during the ISOM.

Ambassador Antonio Basilio (PPECC/ ABAC), Dr. Charles Morrison (USAPC/ President of East-West Center), and Eduardo Pedrosa (Secretary General of PECC) interacted with the 26 invited media participants over issues that covered free trade agreements, Philippine priorities, and regional economic integration during the two-hour event. The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines assisted with the invitations.