Noy on hosting of next APEC: China a tough act to follow

BEIJING – China’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit may be a tough act to follow next year when the Philippines takes its turn to host the meeting of regional leaders, President Aquino said Tuesday.

“I think, number one, we can’t find any fault with the way they hosted, especially the leaders’ summit. The precision, the perfection, I think, sets a standard for us to try and at least match next year when we host APEC,” Aquino told reporters in a press briefing here Tuesday night after attending the summit.

Aquino said he asked for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s and other regional leaders’ support for Manila’s hosting of APEC next year.

“As you know, the whole of the APEC activities is a year-round event, so my last interaction with everybody was to ask for everybody’s support for the success of our hosting of APEC next year,” he said.

Aquino said he was bowled over by the “entertainment aspect of the summit, particularly the cultural performances.

“To be honest, I was looking at it quite intensely. Assuming... we have the talent, but how do you actually produce something on this level? On the entertainment aspect alone, they combined Chinese and Western,” he said.

The President said one of the dancers in the cultural performance was hearing-impaired, prompting him to think how a person could dance without hearing the music.

“If I were to characterize one thing, in the way they hosted it, especially this portion that I was actually witnessed to, the precision,” he said.

“The fireworks, for instance – the human (performance), the video and the fireworks – you won’t see anything out of sync. No one is ahead, no one is behind. Maybe with us it will be a little less precise,” Aquino said.