APEC SOM 2 arrives in Ha Noi
VGP - The second Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM2) and related meetings as part of the APEC Viet Nam 2017 is set to take place in Ha Noi from May 9-21.
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| APEC SOM 2 arrives in Ha Noi |
SOM 2 will comprise 49 meetings, workshops and dialogues of committees and working groups of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, covering a range of spheres such as trade and investment liberalization, business facilitation, human resource development, education, network economy, food safety, science, technology and creativity, mining, automobile industry and urbanization.
At the events, APEC delegates are expected to push long-term co-operation programs and plans in key areas and reach consensus on documents to be submitted to ministers for approval, laying a foundation for contents of the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting and APEC Ministerial Meeting in central Da Nang city in November 2017.
A multilateral dialogue on APEC towards 2020 and beyond, a high-level policy dialogue on human Resource development in the digital age, a Pacific Economic Cooperation Council meeting, a Senior Finance Officials Meeting and the 23rd Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting will also be held on this occasion.
Since its inception in 1989, APEC has become a leading economic co-operation mechanism in Asia-Pacific, focusing on trade and investment liberalization, business facilitation and economic-technological cooperation.
APEC groups 21 member economies, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the U.S. and Viet Nam, which together account for 39% of the world’s population and 59% of global GDP and 48% of global trade.
Việt Nam joined APEC in November 1998, marking a milestone in its foreign policy of openness, multi-lateralization and diversification of relations and international economic integration.
Since then, the country has contributed to APEC co-operation. The country hosted the APEC Year 2006, in which the 14th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting endorsed the Hà Nội Action Plan to implement the Busan Roadmap towards the Bogor Goals, approved measures to enhance the efficiency of APEC co-operation and set out long-term prospects to form the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific. In 2014, Viet Nam also organized the 6th APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting./.
By Kim Loan
