APEC Philippines 2015 was the year-long hosting of the

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

(APEC) meetings which concluded with the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting held on 18–19 November 2015 in

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasay; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 440,656 people. Due to its location j ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the seat of government and one of three defined metropolitan areas in ...

. It was the second time the Philippines hosted the summit, the first being in 1996. The meetings were held amid simmering tensions between China and several nations, including the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, Japan,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

because of the former's aggressive policy of claiming several uninhabited islands in the South China Sea. However, the Philippines decided to put aside the issue temporarily in keeping with its hosting duties. The summit was also held just days after the November 2015 Paris attacks which left 137 people dead, forcing the host country to enforce a lockdown of major streets near summit venues and hotels where the economic leaders were billeted, causing heavy traffic in major Metro Manila roads and inconvenience to commuters and motorists.

Agenda

The agenda of the Philippines' hosting of APEC 2015 is exemplified through its theme which focuses on promoting and advancing

inclusive growth Inclusive growth is economic growth that raises standards of livings for broad swaths of a population. Proponents for inclusive growth warn that inequitable growth may have adverse political outcomes. The definition of inclusive growth implies dir ...

in the Asia-Pacific region. This goal on promoting inclusive growth is divided into three stages: domestic/national, regional, and macro levels. There are also four priority set for APEC 2015: # Investing in Human Capital Development # Fostering Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SMEs) Participation in Regional and Global Markets # Building Sustainable and Resilient Communities # Enhancing the Regional Economic Integration Agenda

Branding

The official APEC 2015 logo and theme, ''"Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World"'', were unveiled during the event, as well as its official

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

and

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accounts. The logo design was donated by INKSURGE Design Studio. The circle in the logo represents a

global community The term world community is used primarily in political and humanitarian contexts to describe an international aggregate of nation states of widely varying types. In most connotations, the term is used to convey meanings attached to consensus or ...

which is described as more connected, more integrated and more dynamic, and where each APEC member-economies, both advanced and emerging contribute to shared development. The design also depicts the 21 APEC member-economies as blue, red and yellow triangles connected by common waters. The sustained and shared economic growth of the member-economies are represented through an arrow pointed upward at the center of the globe, an image formed by the 21 triangles. The light blue shade of the arrow symbolized the promising development of a member-economy resulting from positive interaction with partners and compliance to sound

macroeconomic Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...

fundamentals. The triangle itself symbolizes balance which leads to a strong and stable economy. The three colors of the triangles represents the APEC's Pillars of Progress or the Bogor Goals: 1) Trade and investment liberalization; 2) Business facilitation through cost reduction and efficiency of business transactions, and; 3) Economic and technical cooperation among APEC member-economies. These goals were first outlined and described during the 1994 APEC summit in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Preparations

Preparations for APEC 2015 began with the signing of Administrative Order No. 36, s. 2012, which constituted the APEC 2015 National Organizing Council. On 1 December 2014, President Benigno Aquino III led the APEC 2015 national launch at a dinner in

Makati Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...

. The Philippine government allocated approximately 10 billion

pesos The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

for the hosting of the APEC meetings.

Security

As part of the security measures for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, the government declared 17–20 November as school holidays and 18–19 November as special non-working days in

. Manila has also banned most activities in and around

Roxas Boulevard Roxas Boulevard is a popular waterfront promenade in Metro Manila in the Philippines. The boulevard, which runs along the shores of Manila Bay, is well known for its sunsets and stretch of coconut trees. The divided roadway has become a tradema ...

and

Manila Bay Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phi ...

, such as fishing,

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, and walking. The

Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ( fil, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). The ...

(AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) were placed from blue alert to red alert status on 14 November in preparation for the five-day event. The raising of alert status was done ahead of schedule due to a procedure by the police following any international terrorist incident, such as the attacks in Paris which occurred a day earlier. Nevertheless, the PNP assured the public that the alert status is due routine procedure and it has not monitored any specific threat. The AFP deployed its

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...

air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

, and naval assets at several undisclosed positions within

Fashion and interior design

As part of the APEC tradition, custom-made Barong Tagalog clothing were designed by fashion designer Paul Cabral for the economic leaders to wear during the "family-photo" portion of the event to showcase

Philippine fashion Fashion and clothing in the Philippines refers to the way the people of the Philippine society generally dress up at home, at work, travelling and during special occasions. The clothing style and fashion sense of the Philippines in the modern ...

and talent. Meanwhile, Filipino industrial designer Kenneth Cobonpue was hired as the APEC creative director and was put in charge of decorating the interior of the

Mall of Asia Arena The SM Mall of Asia Arena, also known as the Mall of Asia Arena or the MoA Arena, is an indoor arena within the SM Mall of Asia complex, in Bay City, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. It has a seating capacity of 15,000 for sporting events, an ...

in preparation for the APEC Economic Leaders' Welcome Dinner on 18 November 2015. His venue design took inspiration from the

Banaue Rice Terraces The Banaue Rice Terraces ( fil, Hagdan-hagdang Palayan ng Banawe) are terraces that were carved into the mountains of Banaue, Ifugao, in the Philippines, by the ancestors of the Igorot people. The terraces are occasionally called the "Eighth ...

, a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Events

hosted the first APEC 2015 meeting, the Informal Senior Officials' Meeting (ISOM), from 8 to 9 December 2014. Originally slated to be held in Legazpi,

Albay Albay, Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income

people, including street children and vendors, who were either detained or relocated to other parts of

. The government denied such allegations of abuse and said that the actions were not only done for the APEC summit and such are part of its regular outreach program.

Protests

During the APEC Economic Leaders' Summit on 18–19 November, the

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan () or Bayan is an alliance of left-wing Philippine organizations. It was founded on International Workers' Day, May 1, 1985 as part of the opposition during the Marcos dictatorship. Politics Ideology The prin ...

conducted protests along Gil Puyat Avenue,

, against China's aggressive policy of claiming islands in the South China Sea, against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

regarding what they describe as

US imperialism American imperialism refers to the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, and media influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright military conquest ...

because of the

Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement The Philippines–United States Visiting Forces Agreement, sometimes the PH–US Visiting Forces Agreement, is a bilateral visiting forces agreement between the Philippines and the United States consisting of two separate documents. The first ...

(VFA) and

Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) is an agreement between the United States and the Philippines intended to bolster the American–Philippine alliance. The agreement allows the United States to rotate troops into the Philippines ...

(EDCA), as well as

APEC The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

itself,

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of foreign relation ...

, and

poverty in the Philippines According to official government statistics, in 2021, the Philippine poverty rate rose to 18.1%, or roughly 19.99 million Filipinos, after the COVID-19 pandemic hampered years of government poverty reduction efforts; this was higher than the 16 ...

. Meanwhile, tribal leaders and members from various

Lumad The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...

tribes in

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

also gathered at the Redemptorist Church grounds in

Baclaran Baclaran is a barangay located in the northern area of the city of Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is also known to be located at the borders of the cities of Parañaque and Pasay. Because of its proximity to the seashore, the place w ...

, to protest what they describe as APEC's promotion of militarization and encroachment of indigenous communities in favor of resource extraction by transnational mining companies. On 18 November, members of the

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; , stylized as PeTA) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. PETA reports that PETA entities hav ...

(PETA) staged their own protest action in

while dressed as animal mascots. PETA called on APEC economic leaders to promote to

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

awareness and conversion to

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

life for the welfare of the animals.

Notes

References

External links

APEC Philippines 2015 official websiteAPEC 2015 CEO Summit
{{Benigno Aquino III Presidency of Benigno Aquino III 2015 2015 in economics Economic history of the Philippines Diplomatic conferences in the Philippines 21st-century diplomatic conferences 2015 in international relations 2015 conferences History of Metro Manila 2015 in the Philippines November 2015 events in the Philippines