SANTIAGO, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum aims to help bolster global trade, Chilean Foreign Minister Roberto Ampuero said on Monday.

The bloc of Pacific-facing countries "can once again become a key driver and an important contributor for strengthening the architecture of global trade," Ampuero said at the inauguration of the APEC Vision Group (AVG) in Chile's capital Santiago.

As the rotating president of the bloc in 2019, Chile is set to host a year-long series of events leading up to next year's APEC forum.

The AVG's mission is to propose "a post-2020 outlook" for the bloc and its members that is in step with APEC's goal of promoting free trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region, the Chilean Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Also on Monday, Chile's Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications Gloria Hutt inaugurated a two-day APEC gathering on telecommunications, especially the digital economy.

In Chile, "we are working day in and day out to close the existing digital divide, and make progress towards a digital society where all citizens have democratic access to new technologies," said Hutt.

Chile, which hosted the APEC forum in 2004, expects to receive around 20,000 delegates from the bloc's 21 members during the November 2019 gathering, which will focus on the digital economy, regional connectivity, and the role of women in economic growth.

APEC was founded in 1989 with an aim to drive economic growth by promoting cooperation, free trade and investment among the economies that lie along the Pacific.

The bloc is home to 40 percent of the world's population, and accounts for 57 percent of global gross domestic product and 49 percent of global trade.