The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) bloc has achieved several positives at a challenging time, including convergence on a wide range of issues, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son said on Monday.

He was welcoming over 200 delegates to the opening session of a two-day Concluding Senior Officials Meeting (CSOM) that kick-started the 2017APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Da Nang.

Son, who is also the APEC 2017 SOM Chair, said that the year presented both difficulties and opportunities for APEC cooperation.

“But the good thing is that even facing such difficulties, we have managed to secure many important results, such as maintaining the momentum of co-operation and reaching convergences on a wide range of issues to boost this year’s priorities and support other ongoing APEC works,” he said.

“We have greatly benefited from the active engagement and contributions of all member economies and other stakeholders to advance this APEC process in our designed direction,” he added.

The CSOM aims to review the progress of APEC co-operation this year and report on it top bloc officials and leaders in the next few days.

Another objective is to finalise the APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) statement and the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) Declaration.

“We enter the final and crucial phase and I look forward to a meaningful outcome from our discussions,” the deputy minister said.

He urged senior officials to use this meeting in the most constructive way to discuss all standing issues.

The prelude to today’s meeting, SOM1, SOM2 and SOM3, were held respectively in the central province of Khanh Hoa in February, Ha Noi in May and HCM City in September this year.

Strong support

Sơn noted that the CSOM delegates have strongly supported the two initiatives proposed by Viet Nam in the opening session: human resource development in the digital age; and an action plan for promoting inclusive development in the economic, financial and social spheres.

“The consensus and support that APEC member economies have given to Viet Nam’s two most important initiatives today show that these issues are common concerns,” he told local media after the morning session yesterday.

Several delegates who spoke to Viet Nam News on the sidelines of the meeting expressed their support for a number of initiatives to be submitted to ministers and leaders at the APEC Ministerial Meeting on Wednesday.

“We should establish an agenda with strategies on what we can do together to help the region continue to be the main driver in realising Bogor Goals in terms of trade and investment,” said Ivan Pomaleu, a delegate from Papua New Guinea, which will host APEC 2018.

“Our ministers will be strongly supporting mechanisms focusing on the post-2020 Agenda, and we should look at how to support SMEs connect with the global market. In terms of policies next year, we recognise that the agenda needs to continue to have a multi-year focus and seek new ideas,” Pomaleu said.

Shiu Raj, Director Programmes and Initiatives of the Pacific Islands Forum, said: “The very reason why APEC exists is to support integration. We will be learning from their experiences. It’s also a great opportunity for us to share our experiences and see how we can move forward in terms of economic integration.”

Head of Peru SOM Raul Salazar appreciated Viet Nam’s contributions in hosting the APEC Summit his year.

“Viet Nam has done a very good job, very good leadership this year. This year is a year when a lot of important discussions occur, what APEC will look like after 2020. We hosted the APEC last year, and we are so honoured and happy that Việt Nam has continued,” Salazar said.

Echoing Peru’s view, delegate Michael Hsu from Chinese Taipei’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said he was thankful to the government and people of Viet Nam for the preparations done for the APEC Leaders’ Week.

“For this year, there is an initiative called Financial, Economic and Social Inclusion, which is part of our agenda. It is initiated by Viet Nam, and I think it is a good initiative,” he said.

Under the theme, “Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future,” leaders, ministers and seniors officials from APEC’s 21 member economies are expected to take new joint actions this year to boost trade and growth in the Pacific Rim while ensuring the benefits are widely shared.

Pham Binh Minh, Viet Nam’s Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the National Committee on APEC 2017, has said that the bloc’s activities this year should create a new impetus to promote growth and take regional economic integration to new heights. He has also stressed that the forum’s main focus is to deliver benefits to people and businesses.

Viet Nam has introduced four pillars for this year’s summit: fostering sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth; deepening regional economic integration; strengthening MSMEs’ competitiveness and innovation in the digital age; and enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change.

The week will culminate with the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on November 11 that will be chaired by President Trần Đại Quang.

It will be preceded by the APEC Ministerial Meeting on November 8, Vietnam Business Summit on November 7 and CEO Summit on November 8-10. — VNS