APEC Member Economies See Extremism a Major Threat

Delegates who attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on counter-terrorism here have recognized the threat posed by extremism to the region’s economic growth.

In his closing remarks delivered after the meeting on Wednesday, Chairman of the APEC Counter-Terrorism Working Group (CTWG), Acting Executive Director Oscar Valenzuela, noted that the topics of extremism and foreign terrorist fighters came up during the meeting.

“We are one with Russia in saying that the foreign terrorist fighter threat cuts across the four activity areas of our Counter-Terrorism and Secure Trade Strategy,” Valenzuela said.

“We are therefore encouraging the economies to propose activities to address this.”

The issue, he said, is important and timely as evidenced by the contributions and comments made by APEC participants who joined the discussions.

Valenzuela said the participants will wait for Indonesia’s proposal under Business Resilience and Recovery, as they would like to bring home takeaways from Indonesia’s experience in the Bali and the Jakarta bombings.

He also encouraged APEC delegates to look back at the lessons they have learned during the meeting on terrorism and from the Foreign Terrorist Fighter Workshop held last Monday (August 31).

“We must be able to apply them in our own economies. It is also hoped that this issue would be discussed more thoroughly,” he said.

According to Valenzuela, the threat of terrorism is very real, and it results in lives lost, broken families, and destroyed communities.

Terrorism compels people to live in harsh conditions, fearing for their lives, and many are forced into isolation as they flee their homes, he said, adding that historical and cultural treasures are also being systematically destroyed by extremists.

“Our meeting may have now come to an end. But it is hoped that we continue to build on our successes. We continue to build our ties and the relationships between our economies,” Valenzuela told the APEC delegates.

The delegates met in Cebu for the sixth meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Working Group.