By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar
NUSA DUA (Bali), (PNA/Bernama) — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will lead the Malaysian delegation to the two-day Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders Summit in Bali, Indonesia, beginning Oct 7.
About 15 leaders and six special representatives from member countries are expected to attend the summit including China’s President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
United States President Barack Obama has confirmed that he will not attend the forum’s summit and will be represented by Secretary of State John Kerry.
Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainudin said Obama’s absence would not jeopardise the smooth running of the summit but several meetings scheduled with other economic leaders would have to be cancelled.
“The Apec Summit usually involves economic leaders including Obama but since he will not be able to attend, his representative will be there.
“As such, all decisions made at the summit will have inputs from representatives of participating economies including the voice of the United States,” he told a press conference here today.
Najib is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Australia and New Zealand on the sidelines of the summit.
It is understood that Najib will also meet Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
This year’s Apec Summit, themed “Towards Resilient Asia-Pacific, Engine of Global Growth” kicked off with the Senior Officers Meeting on Oct 1-2 followed by the Apec Ministerial Meeting on Oct 4-5 and the leaders summit on Oct 7-8.