President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. will underscore the need for food and energy security as he is set to join fellow heads of state for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand next week.

The President will be in the neighboring country for four days to attend the summit, meet local business leaders, and tackle business opportunities, investments, and expansion plans with potential investors from 16 to 19 November.

In a Palace press briefing Monday, Office of the Press Secretary officer-in-charge and Undersecretary Cheloy Garafil said aside from APEC 2022, the President will also attend other related summits to tackle plans and priorities of the Philippine government in terms of trade, investment, and post-pandemic economic recovery.

"The economic leaders from 21 APEC economies will discuss sustainable trade and investment, reconnecting the region and charting our paths towards post-pandemic recovery and inclusive and sustainable growth," Garafil said.

She said APEC is an opportunity for the country to push for economic agenda and priorities including empowerment of the micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises and their inclusion in global value chains.

The President, she added, will also utilize the platform to recognize the essential role of maritime crews and seafarers in ensuring stable and resilient supply chains as well as to tackle climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Marcos will also meet with six state leaders on the sidelines of APEC, the Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Eric Tamayo said.

"The President is having bilateral meetings with six counterparts. The arrangements are still being finalized so I'm not at liberty to disclose yet at this time which economies and leaders they are," Tamayo said in the same press briefing.

Tamayo added the President aims to encourage a "robust response of economies to the challenge of climate change and mitigation" in his four-day visit to Bangkok.

"It is important for us to be able to highlight the fact that economies need to address and need the future proof of the region in responding to these disruptions, be it coming from the pandemic and other disruptions around the globe," Tamayo said.

When asked if the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine will be brought up by the President at the summit, Tamayo said the Philippine government has already expressed its stand on the issue in more appropriate platforms.

"Bilateral issues will not be part of the discussions in the APEC platform. Although in the context of the President's advocacy on food security, of course, reference will be made on the rising prices of inputs to food," he said.

He added: "This is something that each economy is concerned about, the rising inflation and how this is impacting our efforts to facilitate rapid economic recovery in the region. On energy, of course, we have seen rising prices of energy, and again these are critical inputs and critical components of keeping the wheels of the economy running."

This will be the first in-person meeting of the 21-member regional economic bloc since the pandemic hit at the start of the year 2020.

The two previous AELMs were held virtually in 2021 and 2022, hosted by Malaysia and New Zealand, respectively.

The 21 member economies of APEC are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.