Apec leaders vow to expand access to Covid-19 vaccines

WASHINGTON • World leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) trade group pledged to work to expand sharing and manufacturing Covid-19 vaccines to fight the global pandemic.

In a statement posted on the Apec website after a virtual meeting chaired by New Zealand, the leaders, struggling to tame outbreaks that have been made worse by the Delta variant, said they would encourage the voluntary transfer of vaccine production technologies "on mutually agreed terms" as the region prepared for future health shocks.

"The pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on our region's people and economies," they said in the joint statement.

"We will overcome this health emergency only by accelerating equitable access to safe, effective, quality-assured and affordable Covid-19 vaccines."

US President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders took part in the meeting held by New Zealand, the revolving Apec host, ahead of a formal gathering in November, the first time such an additional meeting has been held.

The meeting highlighted growing concerns around Covid-19 raging in the Asia-Pacific region as countries including Indonesia, Thailand and Australia face new waves of infections.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stressed the importance of the 21-economy group working together to navigate a way out of the pandemic in a call with Mr Biden ahead of the meeting.

President Xi said China has financed setting up an Apec fund to combat Covid-19 and fuel economic recovery, adding that the country supported waiving intellectual property rights of vaccines.

China had provided more than 500 million vaccine doses to developing countries, he said.

He also called for countries to build an open, fair and unbiased environment for digital commerce. "We want to tear down walls, not build them; we want openness, not isolation; we want integration, not decoupling."

President Putin agreed with Mr Xi on the need to transfer technologies to produce vaccines.

He said his country had actively encouraged others to produce Russian vaccines like Sputnik V, and expressed support for "creating new vaccine production facilities in the Asia-Pacific region by removing administrative barriers which hamper their production and delivery".

He added that Russia had overcome the consequences of the pandemic and that its economy has largely recovered.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said at yesterday's meeting that he was determined to hold a safe and secure Olympics. The Tokyo Olympics, postponed for a year due to the pandemic, are scheduled to start on July 23.

Despite their show of resolve, there are tensions among Apec members, notably between the West and China over the origins of the coronavirus, trade, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and the South China Sea.

A senior Biden administration official said the US President planned to use the forum to demonstrate his commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. "As one of the first opportunities he has to engage with many of these leaders, he will make clear that the US has an enduring commitment to the region," said the official.

The grouping includes South-east Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines; the world's three largest economies - the United States, China and Japan - and also impoverished nations like Papua New Guinea, all members at vastly different points in the Covid-19 cycle, providing further challenges for building consensus.

There have been more than 50 million Covid-19 cases within Apec's borders, with over one million deaths. Apec-wide GDP contracted by 1.9 per cent last year.

REUTERS