IFEZ Journal

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation 2025

July 26 to August 15, 2025.

the Third Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM3) and related sessions hosted in Incheon, one of the global top 10 cities, hosted 

On July 26, Incheon hosted the Third Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM3) and related sessions for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2025. During the SOM3 session, which ran until August 15, more than 4,000 delegates and APEC Secretariat officials visited Incheon. The event included over 200 working-level meetings, workshops, and side events, featuring sessions relating to APEC’s four major committees: the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), the SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE), the Economic Committee (EC), and the Budget and Management Committee (BMC). In preparation for SOM3, Incheon organized a promotional pavilion and a public-private joint exhibition hall to actively showcase its policies and local industries related to “Responding to Demographic Changes” and “AI Cooperation”—APEC’s key deliverables—highlighting its competitiveness as one of the global top 10 cities on the international stage.

1. Incheon, No.1 One Global Top 10 Cities, Hosts ‘APEC 2025 Public-Private Dialogue,’ Organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 

Incheon Metropolitan City, under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hosted the “APEC 2025 Public-Private Dialogue” at Songdo Convensia from August 11 to 12. This dialogue focused on “Responding to Demographic Changes” and “AI Cooperation,” which are being promoted as key deliverables of the APEC Leaders’ Summit scheduled for October. With over 400 participants from the public and private sectors, academia, and expert communities, the dialogue served as a venue where a wide range of views and policy proposals on demographic changes and AI cooperation were shared, yielding meaningful collaborative outcomes. On opening day (August 11), the APEC 2025 Public-Private Dialogue focused on the theme of “Demographic Changes, from Crisis to Innovation,” exploring strategies for developing sustainable systems to address demographic trends. It featured keynote speeches from Jennifer D. Sciubba, president and CEO of the Population Reference Bureau (PRB), Mark McCrindle, founder and principal of McCrindle in Australia, and Willem Adema, senior economist at the OECD Social Policy Division, who provided valuable insights and policy recommendations on addressing demographic changes. In the subsequent session, Dr. Jeong Hye-eun from the Incheon Development Institute delivered a presentation titled “Incheon’s Policy Response to the Low Birthrate Issue,” through which she shared with the international audience a range of ongoing initiatives and achievements for Incheon City, including the “i+ SeriAes.” On August 12, the dialogue shifted to addressing the theme “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow with AI,” examining strategic approaches to leverage the successful adoption of AI within APEC as a new engine of economic growth. The keynote addresses were delivered by Dr. Guy Ben-Ishai, head of Economic Policy Research at Google, Dr. Kim Seong-hoon, CEO of Upstage, and Dr. Karine Perset, acting head of the OECD AI and Emerging Digital Technologies Division. By hosting this event, Incheon City aims to share its citizen-focused policies as examples of sustainable urban governance while further strengthening joint policy initiatives and fostering collaborations between cities across APEC members. In his opening remarks, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok noted, “Incheon is a city that consistently implements practical measures to address the low birthrate in areas directly affecting citizens’ daily lives, including childbirth, childcare, housing, and transportation. We hope that the achievements of these policy initiatives will inspire broader APEC-wide discussions on demographic changes.”

+ APEC 2025’s Key Deliverables

■ AI Cooperation

- The Impacts of AI on Businesses and Labour Markets

- arnessing the Limitless Potential of AI in an Inclusive and Sustainable Manner

■ Response to Demographic Changes

- Proposing Collaborative Initiatives to Turn Demographic Challenges into Opportunities

2. Incheon Shares Its Cultural and Artistic Values with the World  

From July 28 to August 14, Incheon Metropolitan City ran cultural and tourism programs for more than 4,000 attendees from various countries, including international delegations participating in the Third Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM3) and related sessions. The programs were delivered in 27 sessions across eight different venues, including Songdo International City (IFEZ), the Open Port Area, Bupyeong, and Ganghwa. After wrapping up their daytime meetings, participants enjoyed evening tours to Incheon’s beautiful night spots, including Songdo, the Open Port Area, and SangSang Platform. The night tours were particularly popular, quickly reaching full capacity. These programs, which featured Bupyeong Culture Street, Camp Market, traditional market visits, the National Hangeul Museum, dyeing activities, Ganghwa Peace Observatory, and Jeondeungsa Temple excursions, also drew enthusiastic responses. Furthermore, Incheon provided participants with a variety of cultural and sports experiences, including the Pentaport Rock Festival, performances at Incheon Art Center and TriBowl, sports matches, and a range of exhibitions. By offering a wide range of cultural and tourism programs to visitors during APEC’s SOM3, Incheon highlighted the city’s cultural and artistic values to the international community. Through well-organized schedules and high-quality services, the city delivered great satisfaction and inspiration, once again strengthening its positive reputation.