The first senior officials' meeting for this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit will run from Feb. 24 to March 9 at Hwabaek International Convention Center in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province. (Gyeongsangbuk-do Province)

By Margareth Theresia 

The first senior officials' meeting (SOM1) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit will open on Feb. 24 in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, with an estimated 2,000 people expected to attend including delegations from APEC member states.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Gyeongsangbuk-do government on Feb. 20 said the two-week SOM1 will run from Feb. 24 to March 9 at Hwabaek International Convention Center in Gyeongju.

Another 24 meetings will follow including those of the four main committees: the Committee on Trade and Investment; SOM Steering Committee on Ecotech, SCE; Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures; Business Mobility Group; and Digital Economy Steering Group.

As an annual meeting hosted by the APEC chair country, the SOM deals with substantial negotiations and decisions on the summit and ministerial meetings. In December last year, Seoul hosted an informal SOM.

The first official SOM is scheduled in Gyeongju, followed by the second on Jeju Island in May and the third in Incheon in July. Gyeongju will hold the final SOM on the week of the APEC Summit.

Gyeongsangbuk-do supports infrastructure for meeting rooms, transportation, accommodations and medical services so that APEC delegations can hold meetings in a smooth manner. The province has also introduced an artificial intelligence-based device to provide comprehensive information in multiple languages.

Ahead of the APEC Summit, the ministry recently launched the event's official website (www.apec2025.kr), which offers key data and materials like an introduction of APEC, themes and main agenda of the summit, and guides to Gyeongju and other key locations such as Jeju Island, Incheon and Busan.

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