The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2017 officially kicks off today with the first Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1) and related meetings taking place in the south central coastal city of Nha Trang until March 3.

Under the theme “Creating new dynamism, fostering a shared future”, the meetings’ participants are expected to discuss priorities for APEC co-operation in 2017, heard a press conference held yesterday in Khanh Hoa Province’s Nha Trang City.

APEC member countries will also determine priorities set by the economic committee, committee on trade and investment, budget and management committee, committee on economic and technical co-operation and other working groups; and set orientations for 2017 activities, announced the provincial Department of Information and Communications.

The Chemical Dialogue, Intellectual Property Rights Experts’ Group, Emergency Preparedness Working Group, Anti-Corruption and Transparency Experts’ Working Group, Human Resource Development Working Group, and Experts Group on Illegal Logging and Associated Trade will hold meetings today and tomorrow.

As many as 2,000 delegates from the 21 member economies and representatives of the Pacific Economic Co-operation Council, APEC Business Advisory Council, international and regional organisations, domestic and international business circles will attend the events in Nha Trang.

More than 170 domestic and international reporters have registered to cover news on SOM1 and related meetings, according to the APEC National Secretariat and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Viet Nam Bui Thanh Son, as Chairman of the APEC Senior Officials Meetings in 2017, will preside over SOM1.

Deputy Head of the APEC National Secretariat Nguyen Minh Vu said the event aims to boost economic growth for the 21 member economies and deepen economic connectivity.

“The province established sub-committees to serve APEC events. The preparation for SOM1 and related meetings has been thorough,” said Vice Chairman of Khanh Hoa Province People’s Committee Nguyen Duy Bac.

“Hosting APEC will be a chance to promote tourism of Viet Nam and of Khanh Hoa to these 21 economies. This also offers opportunities for the country’s localities to have bilateral dialogues with representatives of the world’s economies to attract investment,” Bac said.

APEC is Asia Pacific’s premier economic forum, aiming to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the region.

After nearly 30 years of development (1989-2017), APEC is a leading co-operative mechanism and economic linkage in the region. With a population of 2.8 billion people, the forum represents about 57 per cent of the world’s GDP and 49 per cent of world trade.

Viet Nam joined APEC in 1998, and hosted APEC in 2006.

Established in 1989, APEC comprises 21 economies, namely Australia; Brunei; Canada; Chile; mainland China; Hong Kong; Indonesia; Japan; the Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; the Philippines; Russia; Singapore; Taiwan; Thailand; the United States; and Viet Nam. — VNS