Participating in APEC Peru 2024
The 40th APEC EDNET Meeting was attended by a total of 14 economies: Australia, Brunei, Chile, China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, and Thailand. The meeting was opened by EDNET Coordinator, Mr. Zhao Yuchi, who welcomed delegates from member economies, thanked the host economy, Peru, for arranging the meetings, and announced the themes of the year: rural education, inclusive education, and digital education.
Following the Coordinator was the HRDWG Lead Shepherd, Zhao Li. He thanked all the member economies for their long-term participation and support, and expressed expectations to receive more concept notes and project proposals, as EDNET has been the most active network in HRDWG.
The alternate EDNET Co-Chair, Ms. Sol Garcia Belaunde Mora, who is the Director of National Coordination and International Cooperation Department at Peru's Ministry of Education, also welcomed all the delegates to Peru. She shared the topics of discussion for the EDNET Meeting this year: educational system optimization, women empowerment, and digital education. Additionally, she expressed confidence in the fruitful discussions that would take place during the two days. She also hoped that the participants from member economies could mutually benefit from each other through building close connections.
After the opening remarks, representatives from each economy introduced their respective delegation members. Our delegation was represented by Section Chief Lika Liu, who expressed gratitude to Peru for hosting the meeting and introduced our attending team members.
The meeting began with a recap of key areas of work across EDNET in 2023 by Ms. Savannah Wallace, the International Affairs Specialist from the U.S. Department of Education. After that, the EDNET alternate co-chair, Ms. Sol Garcia Belaunde Mora, introduced the key proposals and activities for 2024, and the themes for the meeting this year (listed below).
1. Quality teachers for rural schools
2. Building inclusive education systems
3. Promoting digital literacy and closing the digital divide in the age of artificial intelligence
Echoing the themes of the EDNET meeting, representatives from each economy then shared their respective policies and plans on each theme, which are aimed at building a more friendly educational environment. Each theme was thoroughly discussed and opportunities for cooperation across different economies were identified in the meeting.
During the sharing and proposal session of projects and initiatives, our team presented the results of 2023 proposals, and the ongoing implementation of 2024 plans, including "2024 Taipei TVET Workshop: Best Practices for Inclusive Innovation, Digital Sustainability and Cross-Regional Talent Development" and "APEC Forum on Women and Youth Empowerment: Advancing Innovative Education and Enhancing Workforce Skills for a Sustainable and Inclusive Future". We also introduced a proposal for 2025, "APEC Forum on Women and Youth Empowerment: Enhancing Digital Competitiveness and Inclusive Economic Growth through Innovative Enterprise Education", hoping to seek support from other economies.
The 2024 EDNET Meeting has ended, and we will continue to work with other APEC member economies, to turn meeting discussions into actual results, explore new ways of education cooperation across APEC, and create tangible value for APEC.
