Vietnam's president highlights global difficulties as it looks ahead to hosting APEC 2017

Closing out the CEO summit at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima Saturday (November 19), Vietnam's president highlighted global economic malaise as the world confronts an increasingly protectionist future. Chinese President Xi Jinping did pledge on Saturday to further open the world's second-largest economy as leaders of Asia-Pacific countries gathered in Peru to find new free-trade options after Donald Trump was elected U.S. president on a protectionist platform. The annual APEC summit got under way in Lima just over a week after Trump's surprise victory dashed hopes of the largest-ever U.S.-proposed trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), coming to fruition. U.S. President Barack Obama has championed the TPP as a way to counter China's rise, but his administration has now stopped trying to win congressional approval for the deal, which was signed by 12 economies in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, excluding China. Without U.S. approval the agreement as currently negotiated cannot be implemented. Throughout his campaign, Trump strongly criticized U.S. free-trade deals, vowing to pull the world's biggest economy out of the TPP and promising to impose tariffs on imports from trade partners China and Mexico. For his part, Vietnamese President, Trai Dai Quang, detailed the broad challenges facing the global economy. "When we speak about the future, we really can't if we don't speak about the challenges that lie ahead. This year marks the 15th consecutive year in which the global economy has had a growth rate below three percent, in spite of so much effort. The average growth rate is slowing down. Global commerce is at its lowest point in 15 years. The concern is that the economy in the 21st Century is going backwards," he said. "Our region continues being a hot spot for climate change which has caused great damage to our economies and businesses. Over the last decade, natural disasters have caused half a million deaths and affected more than 400 million more, affecting many parts of the world. In addition, armed conflicts, international terrorism, epidemics, cybersecurity, especially the lack of water, food and energy security, problems with migration, among other issues, have created unprecedented challenges for the forces of the global economy. Amid so much uncertainty, more than anything, APEC reaffirms its goal to be an incubator for ideas and promoter for economic growth and integration. In that spirit, Vietnam, proposes to create new dynamics to promote a good future for APEC 2017," he went on to add. China's Xi is selling an alternate vision for regional trade by promoting the Beijing-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which as it stands excludes the Americas. Vietnam will host the 2017 APEC summit.