First Deputy PM Belousov arrives in Bangkok to head Russian delegation to APEC summit

BANGKOK. Nov 17 (Interfax) - Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov on Thursday arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, where he will head the Russian delegation attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

The APEC summit at the level of countries' leaders and delegation heads will take place on November 18-19. It is preceded by November 16-17 meetings of foreign ministers and trade ministers. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin and Deputy Economic Development Minister Vladimir Ilyichev are taking part in these meetings on behalf of Russia.

APEC is a forum comprising 21 economies of the Asia-Pacific region cooperating in regional trade and investment liberalization. Its participants are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Mexica, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, and Vietnam.