Wellington, 15 November 2021 (TDI): Malaysia won this year’s Digital Prosperity Award in recognition of the APEC Traveler App. Malaysian developers built the App. The Traveler App focuses on encouraging the recommencement of tourism. Tourism is a crucial sector for post-pandemic economic recovery.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
APEC or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is an inter-governmental forum. It has 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim. APEC was established to promote free trade in the Asia-Pacific region. It was founded by Australia in 1989. The headquarter of APEC is located in Singapore.
Member Economies
Member economies of APEC are China, Russia, Canada, the US, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Philippines, Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore. This year’s APEC Summit was hosted by New Zealand, albeit virtually.
Digital Prosperity Award
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister, Nanaia Mahuta announced the annual prize; at the APEC Ministerial Meeting. New Zealand’s Minister of Agriculture for Trade and Export Growth, Damien O’Connor co-hosted the event.
Digitally Empowered Economy
The Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the significance of the digital economy. Minister Mahuta emphasized the significance of a digitally empowered economy and regeneration. A digitally enabled economy is a preference for New Zealand. Consequently, it lauds the kind of digital creativity that helps members resolve some of the region’s challenges.
APEC Traveller App
Whilst talking to Summit, Nanaia Mahuta expressed that the winning App addressed the theme of this year; get people ready to move again. The winners prioritized the digital conversion of the tourism industry through the uptake of smart technologies and digital tools.
Travelers will be able to move freely with the help of the App. The App will enable the travelers to show proof of Covid vaccination at immigration checkpoints and APEC economy border crossings. A QR code verifies the information.
Awardee Team
The members of the Malaysian awardee team are Faisal Ariff, Amjad Alhaneesh, Nik Emir Rizan Sulaiman, and Sherman Peter. The team was led by Faisal Ariff who is a former fund manager and start-up founder.
The APEC Digital Prosperity Award acknowledges innovative digital products or applications that can augment prosperity and inclusive growth. The Award is a joint venture of APEC New Zealand and the APEC Secretariat. The Asia Foundation and Google also support the Award.
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