"Next year's global economic growth rate is expected to slow moderately to 2.9%. As policy uncertainty grows across countries, there are concerns about low growth, high costs, and weakened investment and hiring. We should use this occasion to resolve trade tensions through constructive dialogue."
At the "2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit" held on the 29th at Hwarang Hall in Gyeongju Arts Center, Mathias Cormann, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), spoke as a speaker for the first session, themed "Global economic issues and pressing tasks," and said this.
In September, the OECD projected in its interim economic outlook that this year's global economic growth rate will be 3.2% and next year's growth rate will be 2.9%. It judged that investment and trade will contract as trade tensions deepen due to high tariffs and policy uncertainty persists.
Cormann said, "If global trade contracts, the Asia-Pacific region, where intermediate goods account for a high share in global supply chains, suffers the biggest blow. We should remember that a well-opened trade market guarantees people a better standard of living." Since APEC's establishment in 1989, the share of its 21 member economies in global trade and services rose from 39% to 45% in 2023, and APEC members' per capita gross domestic product (GDP) increased from $8,000 (about 11 million won) to $19,000 (about 27 million won) over the same period.
He said that because artificial intelligence (AI) helps improve productivity, an ecosystem should be created so that small and midsize enterprises can use AI more. The OECD projects that over the next 10 years, AI will contribute 0.20–0.24 percentage points (P) to labor productivity growth.
He also emphasized global tax harmonization to prevent double taxation. The OECD is proposing laws related to the introduction of a global minimum tax in more than 70 countries worldwide. The global minimum tax requires that multinational corporations pay a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% regardless of where they locate subsidiaries around the world. He said, "Through such a system, the OECD will work hard to support the establishment of a fair free trade regime."
Next, David Hill, Deloitte AP CEO, took the stage as a session speaker and delivered a lecture based on the results of the "2025 APEC CEO Survey," which Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) conducted with more than 1,200 CEOs in 18 countries.
According to the survey, 42% of CEOs cited innovation and new product development as the key drivers of growth in three years. More than half of CEOs are planning to expand operations into other countries, and they expected mergers and acquisitions to become more active in the energy and resources industry and the life sciences and health sector.