The Steering Committee for the APO Vision 2025: Pause-and-reflect Activity held a consultation meeting, 14–15 March in Tokyo, Japan. The committee, comprising members from Bangladesh, Cambodia, the ROC, India, Pakistan, Thailand, and Turkiye and APO Secretary-General Dr. Indra Pradana Singawinata, engaged in critical discussions. Representatives from the APO Vision 2025: Pause-and-reflect Activity Technical Working Group (TWG), observers, and APO Secretariat staff also attended. The APO Vision 2025: Pause-and-reflect Activity was approved by the 65th Session of the APO Governing Body (GBM) in May 2023 to think critically about the current vision for the APO and plan the best way forward for its M&E framework and system.

Serving as the Governing Body’s representatives for the APO Vision 2025 initiative, the Steering Committee is led by APO Chair and APO Director for the ROC Sheng-Hsiung Hsu. The Steering Committee’s deliberations provided strategic directions and final endorsement of the TWG recommendations for consideration by the 66th GBM in May 2024. The recommendations addressed current issues of the APO Vision 2025 monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework and provided avenues to plan for the vision’s successor document.

In his closing remarks, APO Secretary-General Dr. Indra expressed gratitude for the diligent efforts of the Steering Committee culminating in valuable recommendations. He emphasized that the foremost task of the meeting was to “course correct” to achieve the vision while carrying lessons learned forward into the next phase. Steering Committee Chair Hsu closed the session by underscoring how the pause-and-reflect activity had demonstrated the capacity of the APO to evolve, adapt, and embrace the culture of learning.

Delegates from the APO Vision 2025: Pause-and-reflect activity Steering Committee and TWG, and Secretary-General Dr. Indra (3rd L).