Speaking at the 32nd APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting held from 22 to 23 May in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, People’s Republic of China, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Acting Secretary-General Pedro Manuel Moreno called for stronger international cooperation to manage the profound transformations reshaping the global economy.

Addressing trade ministers and senior officials from across the Asia-Pacific region, Mr. Moreno said the world economy is being shaped simultaneously by fragmentation, concentration and new forms of integration.

An economy of cross-currents

“We live in an economy of cross-currents”, he said, underlining that no single narrative can fully explain current global trends.

The Acting Secretary-General highlighted the rapid growth of digitally deliverable services, e-commerce and artificial intelligence-related industries as evidence of a major restructuring of global trade and investment. Trade in digitally deliverable services now represents 56% of global services exports, while global e-commerce sales exceeded $28 trillion in 2024.

Digital and green transitions converge

He described the current moment as one of the largest capital expenditure booms in modern history, driven by investment in AI infrastructure, semiconductors, clean energy and critical minerals. “The digital economy and the green economy are not two transitions but one”, he said.

At the same time, he warned that the supply chains underpinning these sectors are becoming increasingly concentrated and strategically managed through industrial policy, subsidies, tariffs and investment restrictions.

Cooperation remains essential

Despite rising strategic competition, Mr. Moreno stressed that global cooperation remains essential, particularly on digital systems, critical minerals and clean energy supply chains.

He reaffirmed UNCTAD’s support for the APEC 2026 theme, “Building an APEC Community to Prosper Together”, and for APEC economies through its work on digital trade, supply-chain resilience and frontier technologies, including artificial intelligence.

While in China, UNCTAD Acting Secretary-General Pedro Manuel Moreno also met with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.