By Colleen Long and Aamer Madhani | Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Fresh off his meeting with the leader of China, President Joe Biden on Thursday is addressing CEOs who are grappling with the risks to their businesses from world crises. He’ll also spend time trying to persuade other Indo-Pacific leaders that the U.S. is committed to nurturing economic ties throughout the region.
“We’ve got a few busy days ahead of us,” Biden said during a welcome reception, ticking off a list of concerns and challenges for the leaders to examine. “Our strongest tools to meet those challenges remain the same … connection, cooperation, collective action and common purpose.”
Biden is courting world leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and through his administration’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a group that includes most of the 21 APEC member economies and a few others, like India, that aren’t members of the larger forum.
Mike Pyle, Biden’s deputy national security adviser for international affairs, said the president would use the day’s engagements with APEC leaders to highlight his administration’s efforts to strengthen ties with the region. APEC members have invested $1.7 trillion in the U.S. economy, supporting some 2.3 million American jobs. U.S. companies, in turn, have invested about $1.4 trillion in APEC economies.
Biden during talks with APEC leaders planned to focus on sustainability, climate change and the clean energy transition, Pyle said.
The Democratic president will also pose for the traditional family photo with APEC leaders and host a working lunch and a fancy dinner.
The U.S. hasn’t hosted the annual leaders’ summit — started in 1993 by President Bill Clinton — since 2011. The group met virtually in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Leaders did gather in Bangkok last year, but Biden skipped the summit because his granddaughter was getting married, and he sent Vice President Kamala…
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