On November 13-17, as the Chair of ABAC Sustainable Development Working Group and Chairman of Sinochem Group, Mr. Frank Ning presided over the Dialogue between APEC Economic Leaders and ABAC representatives in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea, where he also attended the 4th ABAC Meeting and the APEC CEO Summit.
At the dialogue, Frank Ning, as moderator of the first panel, led a face-to-face discussion with 10 ABAC representatives on an array of topics such as deepening regional economic integration, building an open world economy, advancing “Belt and Road” initiative and connectivity, promoting economic growth for low and middle income people and expanding digital economic cooperation and innovation growth. These topics were the key messages delivered by state leaders participating in this year's APEC meeting. Those dignitaries include Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and Peru's Foreign Affairs Minister Nestor Popolizio. The dialogue generated good results. Frank Ning also served as the dialogue "coordinator" and accompanied President Xi Jinping to attend other dialogues with ABAC representatives.
During the 4th ABAC Meeting, Frank Ning was appointed as Chair of the 2019 ABAC Sustainable Development Working Group. He expounded the relevant work directions and ideas in 2019 on various occasions including president-elect meetings, opening ceremonies and plenary sessions. He believed that the business community should start from its own practical experience, base on data analysis and processing, do more pragmatic and specific research and find out the real reasons behind the economic and social phenomena, so that feasible and executable solutions are formed and recommendations are provided to policy-makers. In 2019, ABAC Sustainability Working Group will focus on hunger, obesity and undernutrition related to food and food safety; the status quo and future of new energy development and utilization; digitization and sustainability of the mining industry, as well as unification of power plug standards.
During the APEC CEO Summit, as Chair of the APEC China Business Council, Frank Ning was invited to the "2018 APEC China Night" event and delivered an opening address. He pointed out that China's 40 years of reform and opening up has observed remarkable achievements and significant contributions to the development of the world economy. However, China has also encountered various misunderstandings in many aspects. There should be more understanding and communication between the Chinese business community and its foreign counterpart. Everyone should contribute its part and work together to develop the enterprise and grow the economy.
In addition, Frank Ning was also invited to attend a theme seminar during APEC CEO Summit organized by PricewaterhouseCoopers. He said that the Asia-Pacific business community unanimously recognizes free trade and globalization, and hopes to obtain a stable and transparent business environment, promote technology sharing and improve the living standards of the low and middle income population. However, the current development of trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region has encountered severe protectionism. In his words, this situation will not last long, as the chain of world economic trade and investment is an inseparable and recurring cycle, and will not stop as a result of certain trade frictions. China will be more firmly integrated into the world's free and open trade family and confidently respond to competition and cooperation in the global economy.
