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Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs Bui Thanh Son speaking at the press conference following the closing of
APEC SOM
Addressing
a press conference the same day, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh
Son, APEC 2017 SOM Chair, said the SOM3 and related meetings have the largest
scale in the APEC Year 2017 with nearly 80 meetings and 3,000 delegates,
including ministers, deputy ministers of APEC member economies, and
representatives from APEC observers, international organisations and
businesses. The SOM3
and related meetings took place in the context of bright prospects for global
and regional economy and trade, Son said, noting that the regional economic
growth rate is forecasted to surpass that of the global economy.
However,
the widening development gaps between economies and within each economy and
the occurrence of non-traditional security challenges such as natural
disasters, diseases, population aging and climate change require the APEC to
maintain its growth rate while strengthening its cooperation as well as
connectivity to benefit people and businesses more practically.
The
meetings mulled over a range of issues, from human resource development and
structural reform to support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),
anti-corruption, natural disaster response and business environment
improvement.
According
to Son, the APEC economies affirmed their determination to bring pragmatic
and specific interests to each economy, community and the business circle.
Therefore,
inclusive growth was debated at meetings of APEC committees and groups,
covering economy, finance and society.
Vietnam’s
initiatives to organise the Symposium on Promoting Economic, Financial and
Social Inclusion in APEC has received support and active participation from
other APEC member economies and international organisations, Son said.
This is
also the first of its kind held by the APEC in an effort to combine policies
and actions of its committees and working groups, he added, stressing that
the symposium underlined the need to develop an APEC action plan on inclusive
growth which sets forth specific norms, inter-sectoral solutions and measures
to improve legal and institutional capacity to boost inclusive growth.
Outcomes
of the seventh High-Level Meeting on Health and the Economy and the Food
Security Week and the High-Level Policy Dialogue on Enhancing Food Security
and Sustainable Agriculture in response to Climate Change have also
significantly contributed to the APEC’s goal of economic, financial and
social inclusion, the APEC SOM Chair said.
He noted
that the delegates sought measures to increase finance for the health sector,
expand the medical network, narrow urban-rural development gaps and
facilitate the operation of small-scale enterprisesin the farming.
The APEC
economies were resolved to boost regional trade liberalisation and investment
in rural areas through the implementation of Bogor Goals by 2020 and
discussed how to prepare for the post-2020 APEC Vision, Son said.
He
stressed the need for the APEC member economies to continue exchange
experience and improve capacity to maximise the RTAs and FTAs, especially
developing economies, in order to accelerate the negotiation, signing and
implementation of the deals.
The APEC
senior officials approved three important documents, including the Framework
on Cross-border E-commerce Facilitation, the Best Practices on Promoting
Supporting Industries in Asia-Pacific Region, and the Monitoring Framework on
the Supply-Chain Connectivity Framework Action Plan (SCFAP II).
Such
outcomes have not only satisfied the interests of the APEC member economies
and businesses, but have also met Vietnam’s socio-economic development
requirements, including those in sustainable development with people as the
centre, Son said.
The
delegates also talked about preparations for the APEC Leaders’ Week scheduled
for November in the central city of Da Nang, and other APEC meetings in the
time ahead, he added.
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Source: NDO
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