U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a press conference at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bali, Indonesia, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013. Kerry on Saturday urged Congress to end the partial government shutdown and think "long and hard" about the message U.S. sends the world when "we can't get our own act together." (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
“APEC matters because it provides a very critical platform for government and private sector partners to break down the barriers to commerce,”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Bali, Indonesia, October 4th and 5th, emphasized the ongoing U.S. policy rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region and the important work of the 21 member economies of the APEC forum.
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U.S. At APEC
“APEC matters because it provides a very critical platform for government and private sector partners to be able to come together and break down the barriers to commerce,” Secretary of State John Kerry said October 5 in Bali, Indonesia, during a joint press conference with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.
“It is the way in which we open up opportunity for all of our citizens, and begin to create rules of the road that bring our countries closer together. It is the way to create opportunity for all people.”
“The relationship between the United States and the Asia-Pacific has really never been more important than it is now,” Secretary Kerry added. “President Obama began a rebalance to this region in the course of his first four years, and we intend to continue that over the course of his second term. It is very clear that most of the economic issues that we face today require the kind of cooperation that APEC makes possible.”
“From a trade and investment perspective,” Mr. Froman said during the briefing with Secretary Kerry, “APEC continues to be an incubator for policy innovation. As APEC economies cooperate to advance the value of our regional relationships, we realize ideas together that can boost the whole global trading system.”
In remarks to the APEC CEO Summit on October 7, Secretary Kerry said, “there is nothing that will shake the commitment of the United States to the rebalance to Asia that President Obama is leading. And I think it’s fair to say to all of you that we are very, very proud to be a Pacific nation. We are inextricably linked to this region by ties of geography, of history, culture, economics, and frankly the blood and the treasure that we expended to help lay the framework for the architecture on which prosperity is now being built.”
