1. As the 2019 APEC Summit had been cancelled due to internal affairs of the Republic of Chile, the APEC Host Economy for 2019, the 21 APEC member economies held the Concluding Senior Officials’ Meeting (CSOM) at the APEC Secretariat in the Republic of Singapore on December 7, during which they reached final agreements on the achievements made in 2019 and explored the way forward. The head delegate of the Republic of Korea to the meeting was Mr. Lee Ho-yul, Deputy Director-General for International Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

° After Chile’s cancellation of the APEC Economy Leader’s Meeting, member economies had considered holding an alternative meeting. However, busy schedules of leaders and the little time for its preparations led to the decision that it was difficult to hold the Summit.

2. At the CSOM, the member economies reviewed the achievements made in 2019 with regard to APEC’s vision for the future, the plans for APEC’s digital agenda, ways for making progress on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, ways for an inclusive and sustainable growth, and the final review of the new agenda on structural reform; and discussed the way forward.

° The member economies endorsed three roadmaps that had been prepared as the deliverables of the AELM (APEC Economy Leader’s Meeting) -- the La Serena Roadmap for Women and Inclusive Growth and theAPEC Roadmaps for addressing Marine Debris and Combatting Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing -- and thereby paved the way for implementation.

3. As the cancellation of the APEC Economy Leader’s Meeting had made it impossible to reach the initially planned agreement on the Economic Leaders' Declaration, Chile issued the APEC Host Economy Leader’s Statement titled “Connecting People, Building the Future,” which summarizes the outcome of the discussions in 2019.

4. Following the CSOM, delegates of the 21 APEC member economies will attend an APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting (ISOM), which will be held in Langkawi, Malaysia, on December 9-11, and start preparations for the APEC meetings to take place in 2020.