Apec pledges not to slide back into protectionism - Muhyiddin

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has pledged to refrain from backtracking and resorting to protectionist measures to keep markets and borders open, said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

The APEC 2020 chair said this included ensuring the smooth cross-border movement of essential goods including food, medicines, and medical supplies as well as other necessities during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure an unobstructed supply chain within the region.

“APEC’s immediate priority is to ensure the readiness of the health and medical care institutions to provide critical treatment as well as to manage public health policies to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“From the economic perspective, the impact has been severely devastating, with a significant number of companies and businesses going into distress, or even folding. Furthermore, the region has seen a record number of job loss,” Muhyiddin said at a virtual media conference today on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting...