1,500 APEC leaders to participate in APEC CEO Summit next week

The APEC CEO Summit to be held in Singapore next week has 1,500 participants confirmed to attend. This is the largest attendance in record for the event since its inception in 1996.

Participants include President Barack Obama of USA, President Hu Jintao of China, President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Chief Executive Donald Tsang of Hong Kong, China, President Felipe Calderon of Mexico, Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak of Malaysia, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand, President Nguyen Minh Triet of Vietnam, President Lee Myung-Bak of Korea and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama of Japan.

Other industry headliners such as Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank; Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce of the US and Jin Liqun, Chairman of Board of Supervisors of the China Investment Corporation have also confirmed their participation.

The event will revolve around the topic: “Rebuilding the Global Economy: Crisis and Opportunity”.

“This has been another tumultuous year for the Asia-Pacific region and the APEC CEO Summit in Singapore provides a timely occasion with an impressive gathering of world leaders to take stock and look ahead,” Mr Stephen Green, Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings plc, who will be delivering a luncheon address titled, “Good Value: Reflections on the Global Financial Crisis and the Way Ahead”.

Many look forward to the discussion that will take place and the actions that will be taken as a result of the Summit.

“It has been an eventful year for the global economy, and an especially difficult one for the aviation industry. I am hopeful that the outcomes of the Summit will serve as the impetus for businesses to discover fresh opportunities amid the downturn, providing a much-needed injection of confidence for people to start travelling again more frequently,” said Mr Huang Cheng Eng, Singapore Airlines' Executive Vice President, Marketing and the Regions.

Also the summit hopes to include the opinions of the community in the discourse. An online discussion forum has been launched as well as a delegate survey conducted in an attempt to make sure that views from each sector are represented. Columns have been launched by prominent personalities to begin the discussion. Among the columnists is Dr Bjorn Lomborg, Director for the Copenhagen Consensus Center.

Also, results from a survey conducted by the CEO summit committee and PricewaterhouseCoopers to find out the most pressing concerns Summit delegates have on the global financial crisis will be revealed on the first day of the event.

The APEC CEO Summit is organised by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF).