“Where else can you go in the world and hear from the leaders from more than half of world’s economies, well nowhere.” This is what Alan Bollard, Executive Director APEC Secretariat, told CGTN  when asked about his expectation on both the CEO Summit and Leaders’ Summit.

One of the key issues for the leaders at the summit is to discuss APEC visions after 2020. This will lay out the roadmap and shape the future of cooperation. Bollard said that given many big programs resolved around 2020,  it’s a chance for us to look at where we go beyond that.

“APEC could change its direction. We could do more work on Bogor Goals, that’s the program to help remove border barriers and trade. But it needs to be an electronic trade, not just merchandise old-fashioned trade. ”

Bollard said that China has been a significant player in APEC for a long time, and especially made a big impact back in 2014 when China hosted APEC. During that year, there were many new programs started particularly on connectivity, and that means infrastructure, policies and movement of people. Bollard expressed his expectation that China would continue this momentum of playing a greater role in the community.

“We count on China to keep being enthusiastic about APEC, keep bringing new ideas to the table, keep developing things that are currently there, keep showing leadership on things like connectivity blueprint.”

One of the four priorities under this year’s theme is strengthening micro, small and medium enterprises' competitiveness and innovation in the digital age. Bollard said this is because small businesses have become one of the major drivers of the global economy, and it’s time to think what could be done to ensure the healthy development of those companies.

“What we all are very sure about is that we want to make sure that what we can do for small businesses because it has the potential to be a revolution for small business. In the past, a small business couldn't easily trade, but now there are all sorts of possibilities."

When asked about what outcome might be achieved from the summit, Bollard said that ministers and leaders are expected to sign up to a program of deliverables that would continue the progress that APEC has been achieving, by helping the region get together economically and support growth in the economies and help improve living standard. 

But new visions would also be embraced to better deal with the ever-changing economic environment, he said. 

“We expect to see some development around an inclusive economy, how to make sure the benefits of growth are going through the economy, we expect to see developments about things like economic commerce, and internet economy particularly for small business. And we are looking for some initiatives about regional economic integration, helping to connect up the economies as well.”