Apec 2021: US out to prove America is back

Vice-President Kamala Harris announced the US bid in August, in Singapore.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris' pitch for her country to host Apec in 2023 is a signal the Biden Administration wants to demonstrate "America is back".

But before the US can be confirmed as the 2023 host next week, all 20 other member economies of Apec must agree.

Harris announced the US bid in Singapore after pressure from a high-powered Washington DC business lobby to "re-engage and enhance" US economic leadership in the Indo-Pacific through a commitment to host Apec in 2023.

At the August meeting, Harris said she was proud to announce the US offer: "Through Apec, or the Asian-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum, the United States has long worked with our partners in Asia and Latin America to build an interconnected region that advances our collective economic prosperity."

The call to the Biden Administration to step up engagement came from the US Chamber of Commerce's Myron Brilliant. "If the US is fully engaged, Apec can be a constructive and pragmatic forum for countries to address economic challenges and to forge a consensus on issues of common concern and importance," he said in June.

"As chair, the United States would be well-positioned to set the bar for the Apec meeting and ensure its success and could more effectively drive a robust policy agenda including around climate, supply chains and digital trade".

While there is momentum behind the 2023 bid, China was diffident with an official spokesman saying, "Apec is an important economic cooperation forum in the Asia-Pacific region that follows the principle of consensus through consultation. China is ready to maintain communication with Apec members, including the US."

But no other Asia-Pacific economy has put its hand up for 2023. And without strong engagement from the regional super powers, Apec will lose its momentum.

New Zealand has done much this year to restore momentum after three patchy years. There were the hard times in 2018 when rampant discord broke out between the US and China in Papua New Guinea.

The 2019 summit in Chile was canned due to riots.

In 2020, the summit went online as the Covid pandemic raged.

US State Department official Manu Bhalla — the Acting Apec Senior Official — told a think tank forum in Washington DC last week that the Administration had been working to secure consensus and was "hopeful" that it will be able to host in 2023.

"The United States offered to host Apec in 2023 because we attach a high priority to Apec as a premier platform to advance economic policies in the Asia Pacific region," said Bhalla.

"Apec is also an innovative leader in tackling issues that affect every domestic and international marketplace.

Apec is the "premier platform"for promoting free, fair and open trade and investment in the Indo-Pacific.

"We want to continue to see Apec serve as an incubator of ideas that can help shape the economic architecture, especially as we implement this new vision over the next 20 years."

The US last hosted an Apec meeting in Hawaii in 2011 when former US President Barack Obama, from Honolulu himself, chaired the summit;

In 1993, then US Bill Clinton hosted the very first Apec leaders' meeting at Blake island in Seattle.