 Thank you. Good morning. Good morning everyone, here in the audience of course and also to the viewers on our live webcast We are live from the World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Hanoi, Vietnam And this is our second press conference of the day and we have the honor to have two special guests who've flown in to the region And one I believe from very far away. It may well be the guests that flew in from the farthest, the Minister Ampouero the Foreign Minister of Chile and else we also have Alan Ballard, the director general of the Asia Pacific Economic Community and what we'll be talking about with these two guests is indeed the agenda for the Asia Pacific region going into 2019 when Chile will take on the presidency of the community It takes the presidency at an important time when there are a lot of tribulations that it's called And quite some worries about the future of trade and also economic growth not just in the region, but more importantly globally So here to talk about that are our two special guests We'll start with introductions and introductory statements from both of them And they will turn to some questions from the audience before closing in about 25 minutes Why don't we start with you Minister Ampouero to talk about the agenda for APEC in 2019? First of all, thank you very much for this invitation. I would like to start my words quoting an Argentinian wonderful writer, Jorge Luis Borges Who said every generation? Faces very hard and difficult times and I think this is Exactly what we are feeling today. The big difference is that every generation thinks they have Faced the worst time or history a long time and the other Quote I would like to mention is it's related. I'm going to word it very freely from Henry Kissinger who said countries are more or less defined by their dreams and fears and that is exactly what that's going on today some countries are trying to Pursue a certain direction stressing the dreams they have and In their projects and agendas and others are suffering a lot because they are just Being inspired by by by the fears in terms of Chile. I would say We are very aware that this are Difficult times especially because there are some voices talking about protectionists and On the other hand, there are the dreams of Some countries like Chile. We still and very clearly support and are and based our base our development on an open Market and and on free trade But this is not only a Philosophical or theoretical definition. It is based on our own development What do we have achieved in the last? 35 40 years as a country is based on Being able to work in the frame of free trade Chile has only 18 million in the inhabitants. This is small market and our alternative for Being a developed country for achieving our goals was and is still this aim of going into the world and Getting more free trade agreements and better conditions for our products. That would be My initial statement Thank you so much. And of course Chile is a part of the Asia Pacific economic Community it spans. I think more than half of the globe. I suppose if you look at it On the globe and of course the other part of it is the region that we are in right now, Mr. Ballard zooming out a little bit Could you tell us a little bit more about? What what what the future might bring for Asia Pacific not just on this side of or on that side of the globe? Particularly in this region Sure. Well a peck is actually more than half the world's economy. So it's big. It's important It's the biggest organization of that sort in the world It came 30 years ago when some very insightful ministers thought if we could tie this region together economically not politically but economically then there's going to be big benefits for Potentially everybody right around the region and that's been true. That's worked. That's been the model but of course now we are more concerned with some of the Barriers to trade that look like they're going up some of the barriers to economic integration around the region and This region of course is a real focal center for that So even if some of that not all of it but some of it started out of new US administration policies We definitely see the impact around the region and we'll see more of an impact and We're very pleased to hear Chile say that next year it will be standing up for continued free trade and reduction of economic barriers For the obvious principles that that helps people improve their life. That's the only reason we're doing all of this this year Papua New Guinea is actually hosting a peck and In a month and a half time. We will meet in Port Moresby We'll have the leaders from around the 21 economies all there last year. It was here It was Vietnam. It was actually in Da Nang and we had a very big meeting with President Xi Jinping President Trump President Putin and others and They signed up to an amended statement whereby we could understand how we would keep moving forward in an open Integrating sort of way, but in one sense the world's actually got a little bit more complex since then That's right. And so of course this year. We have seen the signing of the amended TPP And that's I suppose brings about more integration of at least a part of the apex region What can we expect according to going forward in? 2019 are we seeing a continuation of let's say the TPP side of things or do you fear more? let's say the other more protectionist side of the Those in those perspectives Well Chile is a big driver of TPP. So I'll leave it to the minister to talk about where that's going But I we would expect to be talking about potential new entrants. That's not going to stop in addition Of course, there's a Pacific Alliance and then we're based in Singapore and we're watching Singapore this year chairing ASEAN and a hope that they can move the very big possibilities of regional comprehensive economic partnership which is Which is possibly not that exciting in terms of what it actually offers In terms of trade Possibilities, but it's huge. It's got to be the biggest footprint of that sort in the world And if really we can get an agreement with China and India plus plus plus Then that's half the world and so that's going to keep moving. So I don't expect I expect to see these big regional trade trade agreements continuing to move forward and in one sense There's actually more determination to do that now It was already mentioned just briefly now, of course the signing of TPP in its suggested form has happened now And of course we'll see the effects of that. I suppose starting 2019 when you take on the presidency of APEC. What's your what's your agenda? What would you like to achieve going forward during this APEC? 2019 That will take place in Chile in different regions of Chile I would like to stress The theme the main theme we will have and this is connecting people building the future This is the huge theme we have defined as APEC 2019 but there are mainly three Very important priorities and the first one we have developed is to improve the Digital economy the services and digital economy. This is very important for us to be put in the first Place and that means to be able to innovate to be able to introduce a new technology processes to be able as well to Communicate and educate people to bring them at a level that they are able to work with this new technologies and the second Priority is related to connectivity Only connectivity will allow a very inclusive trade. This is also one of our aims And in this in this in regard to this I would say that the third one The third priority is related to the participation of women in the labor process This is a Central point because this will allow as well to democratize the labor world It will also allow to attract more talents. It has If this is very close related to fairness in a labor world and also to reinforce the Economic growth in all of our countries. So those are the three main priorities But the final question is the following or the final aim is the following if we are working Around a pick 2019 and we are trying to develop our efforts towards a certain Aim the most important aim has to be and is the real people It has to benefit the real people and also regions of our countries not only central parts of Very important the regions of our countries, but the this has to be an inclusive result the outcome has to be also Positive for the majority of our population Otherwise otherwise the view of people about globalization about international free trade Will be not the highest level and we have to be very aware of that especially in a time where several voices are talking about Protectionists Of course the elephant in the room, but here we are of course in a country that supports Free trading globalization to a large degree also because it has benefited a lot I want to turn to the audience and and see if there's any questions for our guests About this topic Asia Pacific Economic Community So I'll have look if you have a question you can raise your hand and I think we have a microphone over there So go ahead and identify yourself and then we'll ask your question Yeah, thank you very much. I'm going down. I am I am from Hanoi times Vietnam actually my question for you is for the two speakers is that How do you see the impact of the ongoing trade war between the US and China on China and on Vietnam and The second questions goes to the Foreign Minister Chile is that what is the on what is the process of? ratifying the CP tpp in the country and And and do you really hope that this pack when coming to force next year? Thank you very much Thank you so much for those questions So the first is on the impact of the trade tensions between the US and China on Vietnam will focus on on that first and the second of course for the minister on CP tp CP tp In in Chile, why don't you go ahead mr. Ballard first? Yes, well, we can't be definitive about the impact of trade protection and trade restrictions because some of it is threats And it may not be carried through but certainly there's enough actually in place now for us to be concerned about it It wasn't I think initially so much a bilateral thing It was the United States having some concerns about its trade deficit with a whole range of economies but certainly in this region we Do see quite a strong bilateral tension trade tension now with US and China Impact on China I think you have to bear in mind where China is with regard to all its investment after the global financial crisis It's very big stimulus. It's very big investment in infrastructure and Concerns that China has got as well about slowing growth and about Automation and stuff that we hear a lot about in the United States but actually that's a concern in China and they're worried about losing competitiveness and and That certainly impacts how they think about these things but They have responded to some of the US Increase in tariff protection they could respond in different ways From the region's point of view. We hope that doesn't happen, but we've yet to see how that all plays out We've yet to see whether there's any bilateral deals going to be done between China and the United States But generally speaking, I don't think it's good news for United States or China in all of this Certainly when we're looking Vietnam and more broadly in ASEAN we see a lot of attention on the regional supply chains and just what Production and what part of the production process is being done in some of the ASEAN suppliers and in China Final assembly for export into the United States because of a lot of Chinese exports to the US are Principally not made in China. They're principally made in other economies particularly ASEAN and China is very aware that in some Areas Vietnam is now much more competitive than China lower labor costs and lower other costs also, so I think there's a lot of focus on thinking about would any Investment move out of China to places like Vietnam I don't see it necessarily happening right yet, but it's certainly on the minds of investors and purchasing managers and supply chain logistics operators Other areas where you might see the hub that's happening in China now actually moving to an ASEAN Lower costs more competitive economy and then going into the United States that way But having said all that the IMF numbers suggest that Trade frictions are going to slow down growth Around the world and that also means slowing down growth in China And that also means slowing down growth in this whole region. So there's no big positives out of this I think it's going to be complex We may see investment moving in complicated ways But it's not something that we should really be looking forward to And of course the follow-up question was for the minister and I suppose the question is is also can then the CP TPP provides additional economic boost if indeed The US try to try to trade tensions are putting a strain on them But for that to happen, of course, it has to be ratified first. What is the process there? I will say I am one of the optimists and We have already four countries that have ratified the TPP 11 four or out of six out of six we need and Chile will this year Send this project to the parliament to be ratified and we are Optimist and I think soon we will have the six ratifications that we need so this Agreement can start to work in the proper way Once said that I would like to stress TV P 11. Of course, it's it's very important. It's crucial But in the case of Chile, we also are working without our mechanisms because we are work working on a I would say a world level trying to play with different mechanism to not to be affected so much by protectionist measures and among them or before I mentioned them, I would like to Tell you the journalist who asked about this the first trade partner of Chile is China and The second one is the United States. So we are in a very Interesting position. We have very close relations to the both most important their economies that they have Facing are facing now tensions in commercial terms and We have to develop as well a very strategic view about this relation currently we can work and trade with both countries in a very positive way But we have to watch at the same time these tensions with We're watching it with some concern Because nobody knows exactly if we are going to a good Solution to an a good end of this or if this process will worsen Chile makes Some other efforts in the frame of a peck as I just mentioned in the frame also of Asian we're trying to Get more Deep and closer relations to the economies of ocean also working inside the Pacific Alliance with our partners and Mexico, Colombia Peru and As well with the Mercosur This is in the other alliance economic alliance in Latin America formed by Argentina Brazil Uruguay in Paraguay And we are trying to To serve as a as a bridge between both alliances in the region and at the same time we plan to become a Gateway for the Asian economies to go into Latin America for trade or for investments So I think every country has to develop a certain Several cards a kind of menu of alternatives to face this current situation Very well Let's see if there's one more question in the room because I think we have time for one more Let's have a look any further questions Yeah, we've already talked about it, of course minister and Puedo, but you know You're here now in Vietnam And I was wondering whether you have any specific agenda here and concerning the bilateral relationship between Chile and Vietnam on economic and trade We have been working very well and very close with Vietnam Chile and Vietnam have an old relation This Chile is It was the second country in Latin America who started relations with Vietnam and We have an agreement That is working very well. We want to deepen it. I will Meet today the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and during these days, we will have also the visit of the delegation of the Chamber of Commerce Chile Vietnam so there are several projects This is a growing relation and We are very happy in terms that we are working on another fields together Supporting each other So I'm very positive in terms of the relation between Vietnam and Chile recently in Chile we received a very important delegation from Vietnam and around 40 delegates from economy business people and from the government and We signed several agreements. So we are very positive in this regard And then to finalize perhaps mr. Ballard, of course, we are also here in the World Economic Forum on ASEAN another regional block that works a lot on trade and economic integration and is completing Hopefully it's economic community going forward. What are your views on on that? Well, ASEAN is 650 million people it's massive. It's very strongly go-ahead It's done a lot in terms of ASEAN economic community it's at the core of the regional comprehensive economic partnership discussions and It's full of people who want continue to have better lifestyles and be better off than their parents and they generally see Trade and open growth as the way to do that We're all looking at the moment to try and ensure that there isn't a upsurge in third economies of trade protection We're not generally seeing that at the moment and we're also we do want to Ensure that we don't see some of these growth economic risks transferring into financial risks in the region Similarly, we're not seeing that at the moment either, but we need to stay alert Very well, so I suppose in conclusion we do have some optimism on the forecast or the Future of ASEAN and Vietnam and also the Asia-Pacific Relations. Thank you so much. Mr. Ballard, Minister Ampuedo, and thank you all for being here. Thank you