Manila – US President Donald Trump was all fingers and thumbs during a carefully choreographed photo op Monday at a summit of world leaders, failing to grasp whose hands he was supposed to be holding and breaking a lineup intended to showcase unity.

Trump, whose insurgent election victory was built on his willingness to disrupt political convention, was supposed to cross his arms and join hands with the men on either side of him.

But as others clutched the hands of the person to their left and their right, Trump used both of his hands to clasp the extended fingers of Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The doubling up left summit host Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte with a spare hand — and broke the line into two parts.

The handshake chain is a set piece of gatherings of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), who are meeting with leaders from China, the US, Russia, New Zealand, Australia, India, Canada, Japan and South Korea.

After an awkward few seconds, Trump appeared to recognise his error and made the link between Nguyen and Duterte.

Trump is on the final leg of a tour of Asia that has taken in Japan, South Korea, China and Vietnam.

The famously bullish former businessman has largely avoided the kind of protocol pitfalls that can ensnare even the most careful traveller in this often formal part of the world.//AFP

Footage posted on Twitter showed panicked people fleeing a building in Sulaimaniyah, northern Iraq, as windows shattered at the moment the quake struck late Sunday, while images from the nearby town of Darbandikhan showed major walls and concrete structures had collapsed.

“There are 164 dead and more than 1,686 injured,” Behnam Saidi, the deputy head of the Iranian government’s crisis unit set up to handle the response to the quake, told state television.

Six others were reported dead on the Iraq side of the border.

We are in the process of setting up three emergency relief camps,” said Mojtaba Nikkerdar, the deputy governor of Iran’s Kermanshah province.

The quake hit 30 kilometres (19 miles) southwest of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan at around 9.20 pm, when many people would have been at home, the US Geological Survey said.

Iran’s emergency services chief Pir Hossein Koolivand said it was “difficult to send rescue teams to the villages because the roads have been cut off… there have been landslides”.

The worst-hit towns in Iran were Qasr-e Shirin in Kermanshah and Azgaleh, about 40 kilometres northwest, the official IRNA news agency said.

It added that 30 Red Cross teams had been sent to the quake zone, parts of which had experienced power cuts.

In Iraq, officials said the quake had killed six people in Sulaimaniyah province and injured around 150.

In Sulaimaniyah, residents ran out onto the streets and some damage to property was reported, an AFP reporter there said.

“Four people were killed by the earthquake” in Darbandikhan, the town’s mayor Nasseh Moulla Hassan told AFP.

A child and an elderly person were killed in Kalar, according to the director of the hospital in the town about 70 kilometres south of Darbandikhan, and 105 people injured.

Residents flee homes in Turkey

The quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of 25 kilometres, was felt for about 20 seconds in Baghdad, and for longer in other provinces of Iraq, AFP journalists said.

On the Iranian side of the border, the tremor shook several cities in the west of the country including Tabriz.

It was also felt in southeastern Turkey, “from Malatya to Van”, an AFP correspondent said. In the town of Diyarbakir, residents were reported to have fled their homes.

The quake struck along a 1,500 kilometre fault line between the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates, a belt extending through western Iran and into northeastern Iraq.

The area sees frequent seismic activity.

In 1990, a 7.4-magnitude quake near the Caspian sea in northern Iran killed 40,000 people and left 300,000 more injured and half a million homeless. Within seconds the quake reduced dozens of towns and nearly 2,000 villages to rubble.

Thirteen years later, a catastrophic quake struck the ancient southeast Iranian city of Bam, famed for its mud brick buildings, killing at least 31,000 people and flattening swathes of the city.

Since then, Iran has experienced at least two major quake disasters, one in 2005 that killed more than 600 and another in 2012 that left some 300 dead.

More recently, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake near Iran’s border with Turkmenistan in May killed two people, injured hundreds and caused widespread damage.//AFP

It wasn’t just a quick visit for Trudeau as he spent time chatting with some customers and restaurant staff and posing for photographs.

Most of the world leaders attending the summit arrived on Sunday, except for Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who arrived a day before. /atm

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudea walks out a Jollibee store on Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017. (Photo by TED ALJIBE / AFP)

Here are some more photos of Trudeau’s visit at Jollibee North Harbour, all posted in the Jollibee Facebook account:

Media photographers had a field day documenting Trudeau’s visit at Jollibee North Harbour.

Trudeau chats with some customers.

The staff, of course, won’t pass up the opportunity for a group photo with the Canadian leader.

Trudeau gets a little token of appreciation from the staff.

He even got some take-out.

The US leader is in Manila with leaders of 18 other nations for two days of summits, the final leg of a headline-grabbing Asian tour dominated by the North Korean nuclear crisis.

Allegations of Russian meddling in last year’s US presidential elections have also hounded the second half of his 12-day trip, which took him from Japan to South Korea, China and Vietnam.

Rights groups have called on Trump to end his Asian journey with a strong statement against Duterte’s drugs war, which has seen police and suspected vigilantes kill thousands of people.

But brief encounters between them in the lead-up to official talks scheduled for late Monday morning appeared to support Duterte’s confidence that Trump was not concerned with the killings.

Trump shook hands with Duterte, then the pair chatted for about 30 seconds as the Philippine leader smiled broadly, before the opening ceremony for the first summit on Monday morning. Trump had his back to the cameras.

The pair also sat next to each other at a pre-summit banquet on Sunday, during which they smiled, chatted and clinked champagne glasses.

Duterte, 72, sang a Filipino love song in front of his audience at the banquet, saying in a light-hearted fashion that he did so on the orders of the US president.

“I’m sure he will not take it up,” Duterte said on Sunday when asked whether he expected Trump to raise the issue of alleged extra-judicial killings in the drugs war.

Duterte won elections last year after promising to eradicate illegal drugs with an unprecedented campaign that would see up to 100,000 people killed.

Since he took office, police have reported killing 3,967 people in the crackdown.

Another 2,290 people have been murdered in drug-related crimes, while thousands of other deaths remain unsolved, according to government data.

Many Filipinos back Duterte, believing he is taking necessary measures to fight crime, but rights groups warn he may be orchestrating a crime against humanity.

Amnesty International accuses police of shooting dead defenceless people and paying assassins to murder addicts.

‘I already killed someone’

When pressured over allegations of extra-judicial killings carried out by police, Duterte insists he has never told them to break the law.

But rights groups say police are following Duterte’s incitements to kill, including comments made last year when he said he would be “happy to slaughter” three million addicts.

He has also repeatedly boasted about killing people himself, most recently on Thursday while in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific economic summit.

“At the age of 16, I already killed someone. A real person, a rumble, a stabbing. I was just 16 years old. It was just over a look,” Duterte said.

Former US president Barack Obama was one of many prominent critics of Duterte’s handling of the drugs war. The Philippine leader responded last year by calling Obama a “son of a whore”.

But Trump has appeared to be a fan of Duterte, telling him in a telephone call in April that he was doing a “great job”.

Duterte said on Sunday that Trump had offered him further “words of encouragement” during a brief chat in Vietnam the previous day on the sidelines of another regional summit.

Duterte is hosting the world leaders because the Philippines holds the rotating chair of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc.

The events on Monday and Tuesday in Manila are two separate ASEAN-hosted summits, which also include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The rising threat of the Islamic State group across Southeast Asia, and further efforts to pressure North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to abandon his nuclear ambitions, were top agenda items in Manila.

“Terrorism and violent extremism endanger the peace, stability and security of our region because these threats know no boundaries,” Duterte said in an opening ceremony speech on Monday.

Footage posted on Twitter showed panicked people fleeing a building in Sulaimaniyah, northern Iraq, as windows shattered at the moment the quake struck late Sunday, while images from the nearby town of Darbandikhan showed major walls and concrete structures had collapsed.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said 129 were dead in an updated toll posted on its website, while the official IRNA news agency said some 300 people had been injured, adding that the toll was expected to rise.

Six others were reported dead on the Iraq side of the border.

“We are in the process of setting up three emergency relief camps,” said Mojtaba Nikkerdar, the deputy governor of Iran’s Kermanshah province.

The quake hit 30 kilometres (19 miles) southwest of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan at around 9.20 pm, when many people would have been at home, the US Geological Survey said.

Iran’s emergency services chief Pir Hossein Koolivand said it was “difficult to send rescue teams to the villages because the roads have been cut off… there have been landslides.”

The worst-hit towns in Iran were Qasr-e Shirin in Kermanshah and Azgaleh, about 40 kilometres northwest, IRNA said.

It added that 30 Red Cross teams had been sent to the quake zone, parts of which had experienced power cuts.

In Iraq, officials said the quake had killed six people in Sulaimaniyah province and injured around 150.

In Sulaimaniyah, residents ran out onto the streets and some damage to property was reported, an AFP reporter there said.

“Four people were killed by the earthquake” in Darbandikhan, the town’s mayor Nasseh Moulla Hassan told AFP.

A child and an elderly person were killed in Kalar, according to the director of the hospital in the town about 70 kilometres south of Darbandikhan, and 105 people injured.

– Residents flee homes in Turkey –

The quake, which struck at a relatively shallow depth of 25 kilometres, was felt for about 20 seconds in Baghdad, and for longer in other provinces of Iraq, AFP journalists said.

On the Iranian side of the border, the tremor shook several cities in the west of the country including Tabriz.

It was also felt in southeastern Turkey, “from Malatya to Van”, an AFP correspondent said. In the town of Diyarbakir, residents were reported to have fled their homes.

The quake struck along a 1,500 kilometre fault line between the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates, a belt extending through western Iran and into northeastern Iraq.

The area sees frequent seismic activity.

In 1990, a 7.4-magnitude quake near the Caspian sea in northern Iran killed 40,000 people and left 300,000 more injured and half a million homeless. Within seconds the quake reduced dozens of towns and nearly 2,000 villages to rubble.

Thirteen years later, a catastrophic quake struck the ancient southeast Iranian city of Bam, famed for its mud brick buildings, killing at least 31,000 people and flattening swathes of the city.

Since then, Iran has experienced at least two major quake disasters, one in 2005 that killed more than 600 and another in 2012 that left some 300 dead.

More recently, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake near Iran’s border with Turkmenistan in May killed two people, injured hundreds and caused widespread damage.

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.3 temblor was centred 30 kilometres (19 miles) southwest of Halabja, near the northeastern border with Iran.

In Iraq, officials said the quake had killed six people in Sulaimaniyah province and injured around 150.

“Four people were killed by the earthquake” in Darbandikhan, the town’s mayor Nasseh Moulla Hassan told AFP.

Another two people were killed in Kalar, according to the director of the hospital in the town about 70 kilometres (45 miles) south of Darbandikhan.

Iranian state media reported seven people had died in the quake.

“According to the latest toll, six people were killed in Qasr-e Shirin and one in Azgaleh,” Kermanshah province governor Houshang Bazvand told the ISNA news agency.

State television had previously reported six dead in Qasr-e Shirin, close to the Iraqi border, around 40 kilometres southwest of Azgaleh.

Both agencies reported 25 people had been wounded.

The quake struck the mountainous area of Sulaimaniyah province at 9:18 pm (1818 GMT) at a depth of 25 kilometres (15 miles), the monitor said.

It was felt for about 20 seconds in Baghdad, and sometimes for longer in other provinces of Iraq, AFP journalists said.

In the province of Sulaimaniyah, located in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, residents ran out onto the streets at the time of the quake and some minor property damage was recorded, an AFP reporter said.

In Iran, ISNA said the earthquake was felt in several cities in the west of the country including Tabriz.

In southeastern Turkey, the earthquake was felt “from Malatya to Van”, an AFP correspondent said. In the town of Diyarbakir, residents also left their homes before returning.

The quake took place along a 1,500 kilometre fault line between the Arabia and Eurasia tectonic plates, a belt extending through western Iran and into northeastern Iraq, the US Geological Survey said.

A 5.7 magnitude earthquake near Iran’s border with Turkmenistan in May killed two people, injured hundreds and caused widespread damage, state media reported.

The last major earthquake to strike Iran was a 2003 tremor in Bam, in the southeastern province of Kerman, which killed at least 31,000 people and flattened the city.

MYANMAR’S Rohingya crisis will raise temperatures at the Asean summit in Manila this week as leaders of the grouping gathered in the Philippines yesterday for their annual summit and related meetings with partners from around the globe.

Asean leaders will address the crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, although there still is no consensus on how far they should intervene to address the problem.

The issue will feature in the chairman’s statement issued at the end of the meeting, according to an Asean official who asked to remain anonymous, but the content has not been publicly disclosed.

The Myanmar delegation to the Asean summit has said de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi would raise the issue on her own at the meeting, the official said.

“Myanmar’s stance is to open for cooperation from Asean to ease the problem,” he said.

Another anonymous Asean official said Myanmar and Bangladeshi foreign ministers had met for at least three times to work on refugees’ repatriation in Rakhine state.

Asean countries were expected continue to highlight the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management to provide aid to the affected state, the same source added.

Conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine state became an international issue in August after a militant group launched a series of attacks on security outposts in the state, prompting a harsh “clearance operation” by the Myanmar military. More than 600,000 people from Rakhine have fled the violence to Bangladesh.

Suu Kyi’s government has been accused of doing very little to contain the violence and safeguard Muslim Rohingya, whom authorities call “Bengali”, in a term that deprives them of citizenship status.

Myanmar’s State Counselor Aung Sang Suu Kyi arrives at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga, north of Manila on November 11, 2017, ahead of the 31st Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit. / AFP PHOTO

The United Nations has recently called on Nay Pyi Taw to grant citizenship to Rohingya, which was described as a “fundamental right”.

Asean members have taken different approaches to the crisis. While many of the group such as Thailand regard the problem as an internal Myanmar affair and limit their involvement only to humanitarian aid, others such as Malaysia want the group to address the issue at its root cause, notably the clearance policy.

Leaders will also discuss the contentious South China Sea as many members of the group, notably the current chair Philippines and Vietnam, have been at loggerheads with China over territorial disputes.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday said his country would like to “remain friends” regarding China and the controversial sea, as it was in the best interests of everyone to save lives and not trigger a war.

 Images of US President Donald J. Trump (top) and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (bottom) are seen on a dart board and punching bag during a protest in Manila, Philippines, 12 November 2017. The Philippines is hosting the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Meetings from 10 to 14 November. EPA-EFE

“I do not waste the lives of countrymen in a useless war that cannot be won by anybody. [Xi Jinping] made it clear to us the only way to go is cooperation,” Duterte said yesterday. “The sea is better left untouched. Nobody can afford to go to war.”

In a departure from the previous administration, the Philippines under Duterte has taken relatively soft stance towards China regarding the contentious sea and sought bilateral channels to ease the conflict.

The Asean chairman’s statement, meanwhile, will also mention the South China Sea but refrain from using any incendiary language that could further deepen the rift.

Asean and China are now working on a legally binding code of conduct to regulate countries’ behaviour in the sea. Both sides had already agreed on the framework for the code and would begin negotiations on the text in January, the official said.

The group and China signed the 2002 non-binding Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), but the document has failed to prevent tensions related to the dispute. The group over past years has worked on another document intended to ensure stability over the issue.

Asean leaders will address the crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, although there still is no consensus on how far they should intervene to address the problem.

The issue will feature in the chairman’s statement issued at the end of the meeting, according to an Asean official who asked to remain anonymous, but the content has not been publicly disclosed.

The Myanmar delegation to the Asean summit has said de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi would raise the issue on her own at the meeting, the official said.

“Myanmar’s stance is to open for cooperation from Asean to ease the problem,” he said.

Another anonymous Asean official said Myanmar and Bangladeshi foreign ministers had met for at least three times to work on refugees’ repatriation in Rakhine state.

Asean countries were expected continue to highlight the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management to provide aid to the affected state, the same source added.

Conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine state became an international issue in August after a militant group launched a series of attacks on security outposts in the state, prompting a harsh “clearance operation” by the Myanmar military. More than 600,000 people from Rakhine have fled the violence to Bangladesh.

Suu Kyi’s government has been accused of doing very little to contain the violence and safeguard Muslim Rohingya, whom authorities call “Bengali”, in a term that deprives them of citizenship status.

The United Nations has recently called on Nay Pyi Taw to grant citizenship to Rohingya, which was described as a “fundamental right”.

Asean members have taken different approaches to the crisis. While many of the group such as Thailand regard the problem as an internal Myanmar affair and limit their involvement only to humanitarian aid, others such as Malaysia want the group to address the issue at its root cause, notably the clearance policy.

While temperatures on the street were high, most Filipinos approached by The Nation said they felt pleased with ties strengthening with the US, particularly on what they call the West Philippine Sea dispute, known internationally as the South China Sea dispute, although they did not judge Trump to be a role-model leader.

Activists are doused with water after clashing with riot police during a protest near the US embassy in Manila, Philippines, 12 November 2017. The Philippines is hosting the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Meetings from 10 to 14 November. EPA-EFE

At Roxas Boulevard, around 500 protesters from the Anakbayan Southern Tagalog (AB) movement waved red flags over the star-spangled banner, lay flat on the street and displayed signs reading “imperialism and fascism”.

They tried to pass through a police barrier to get close to the Philippine International Convention (PICC) Center, with about 700 officers deployed at the scene.

An hour-long confrontation ended with some pushing but resulted in no injuries before the group dispersed.

“But we will come every day until Trump leaves,” said the AB spokesperson Mackie Valenzuela. “We hope to bring the message that the Philippines is against this imperialist plunder.”

Like many anti-Trump Filipino movements across the Philippines, once a colony of the US, the AB blames the US for making the Philippines dependent on Washington. The only way to “genuine economic emancipation” was to mobilise and fight, Valenzuela said.

Student activists hold anti US President Donald Trump banners during a lightning rally before the start of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, in Manila on November 12, 2017. World leaders arrive in the Philippines’ capital for two days of summits beginning on November 13. / AFP PHOTO

Another larger protest near the PICC was expected.

In front of the US Embassy yesterday, however, the protests ended with more than 20 injured and police using water cannons. Several movements were there including the Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Timog Katagalugan and Bagong Alyansang Makbayan Mindanao.

Activists scuffle with policemen during an anti US President Donald Trump near the US embassy in Manila on November 12, 2017, before the start of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit. World leaders arrive in the Philippines’ capital for two days of summits beginning on November 13. / AFP PHOTO

The protests led to more roadblocks being erected in Manila, which was already in lockdown to provide security for the summit. An “Asean Lane” was also reserved on roads to ensure the speedy arrival of envoys from Clark Airport.

The situation led some Filipinos to complain but others were indifferent to the traffic. “It’s all been messed up from the beginning, whether our commuting system or all those meetings. We can’t do anything but adapt,” said 22-year-old freelancer Vincent, who declined to give his surname.

But some saw positive developments due to Trump’s visit. Unlike protesters, they said they believed that playing along with the US would help empower the country.

Protestors burn US flags during a vigil during a protest against visiting US President Donald Trump before the start of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Manila on November 12, 2017. / AFP PHOTO

“I like Trump’s disapproval of China militarising our owned islands according to international law in the West Philippine Sea,” said real estate broker Marck Emmanuel Agdameg.

“But do I like Trump personally? No, he’s rude and knows no boundary. I just think that it’s diplomatically healthy to keep ties with the US,” Marck added.

While many compared Trump with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for their presentation of themselves as hard-liner realists, physician Nino Fernandez disagreed. “They both simply say what their people want to hear, but they are jokes. Look at Trump’s wall, for example,” Nino said, referring to his unfulfilled campaign promise to build a wall on the Mexican border.

A zoomed-in image shows an activists holding a placard with the images of US President Donald J. Trump and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during a protest near the US embassy in Manila, Philippines, 12 November 2017. The Philippines is hosting the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Meetings from 10 to 14 November. EPA-EFE

Systems engineer Marion Manuel dela Cruz, 26, said that the US was like a big brother to the Philippines.

“I don’t see anything wrong with Trump coming here. I actually like him for being more friends of China and Russia,” Marion said. “But I believe in Duterte’s independent foreign policy and it’s not like we have to take that much of a side.”

LEADERS of 21 economies in Asia and the Pacific yesterday expressed their strong commitment to the multilateral trade system in the digital age and anti-protectionism, but also recognised the importance of bilateral agreements as strongly pushed by the United States.

“The Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment, and the support for the multilateral trading system as well as the growth of connectivity strategies and programmes have provided long-term orientations for Apec’s activities and afforded hundreds of concrete cooperation areas,” said Vietnam’s President, Tran Dai Quang, chair of the meeting.

Members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) gathered in Vietnam’s central city of Danang to champion the multilateral trading system and liberalisation amid changes in the global situation after one of its major members, the US, shifted its policy to focus on bilateralism.

In the declaration issued yesterday the leaders said they “recommit to fight protectionism, including all unfair trade practices, recognising the role of legitimate trade defence instruments”.

The statement is a compromise between the US’s demand to promote bilateral economic cooperation and the majority of Apec members who champion a multilateral trade framework at the core of cooperation among the economies.

President Donald Trump, who attended the Apec summit for the first time this year, has pushed his “America First” policy and earlier withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which Washington had strongly pushed.

The remaining 11 members of the TPP held a meeting on the sidelines of the Apec in Danang and told a press conference yesterday that they had finally agreed to go ahead without the US, by suspending 20 provisions from the original deal.

Japan and Singapore are the most active members of the TPP. Japan’s Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said that the CPTPP would go into force after six of the 11 nations ratify it.

The 11 are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

The Apec ministerial meeting issued a statement yesterday, rather than immediately after the meeting on Wednesday, also voicing concerns about protectionism.

“We recall our pledge to extend our standstill commitment until the end of 2020 and recommit to fight protectionism, including all unfair trade practices, recognising the role of legitimate trade defence instruments,” the statement said.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said Apec should keep its faith in free trade amid the growing trend of protectionism and anti-globalisation.

The world is keeping a close eye on free trade pacts in the Asia and Pacific, which is a great challenge for the region, he said. Thailand and other Apec members hoped to see progress at the 11th ministerial meeting in the World Trade Organisation, he said.

Prayut proposed at the summit yesterday that Apec should also focus on human resource development, digital access, food security and green innovation.

Apec has a framework on human resource development in the digital age as a guideline for all to develop their human resources in keeping with advancing technology.

The Asia Pacific region is one of the major food producers of the world. Countries in the region should utilise digital technology to develop productivity in the agriculture sector to ensure world food security, he said.

The Thai government has applied HM the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s sufficiency economy philosophy, which is compatible with new technology, to move the agriculture sector in the country towards “smart farming”, Prayut told Apec leaders.

In order to support and enhance micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), Thailand has joined hands with Peru to push the Apec Strategy for Green Sustainable and Innovative MSMEs, he said.

As the Apec summit this year has approved the strategy, Thailand is ready to implement it, he said.

Apec aims to become a low-carbon society and to generate jobs in the growing “green industry”, he said.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the meeting that the government should play a key role in distributing the gains of globalisation and digitalisation.

While free markets and private enterprise are required to drive innovations that have opened up new frontiers for trade and commerce, efficient and fair economies are just as important, The Straits Times quoted Lee as saying.