Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I think that is an important question, because APEC's economic leadership has, indeed, driven the transformation of this region into the most dynamic economic region in the world. APEC's role in promoting market openness and economic reform is more important now than ever, and I'm going to take the opportunity of my participation in APEC to underline the importance of that economic openness and of regional integration. As well, I'm going to take the opportunity to highlight, in particular, Australia's focus on women's economic empowerment. Australia has been strongly supporting APEC's work in setting standards, particularly for digital trade, which is part of our work in leading WTO discussions and shaping global rules on ecommerce. We're also supporting APEC's focus on inclusive growth in the region, led by PNG, by supporting initiatives to help develop economies in remote areas—which, given the nature of PNG itself, is a very good exemplar of that work.