Deputy Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn. – Photo vnexpress.net

HÀ NỘI – Boosting the forum’s profile and making its activities more practical and effective will be Viet Nam’s focus as it prepares to host APEC Year 2017, Deputy Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn said yesterday.

Addressing a press conference on the event in Hà Nội, he said APEC Year 2017 will be a major focus of Việt Nam’s external activities in the context of intensive and extensive international integration. 

Hosting the event also affirms Việt Nam’s wish to make more contributions to building and shaping multilateral co-operation mechanisms, including the APEC, he said. 

Sơn highlighted expectations that Việt Nam has in organising the event, including making APEC co-operation more practical and effective with completion of the Bogor goals in trade and investment liberalisation. 

Việt Nam also hopes to enhance the position of APEC as a leading forum, pioneering in the formation of deep and wide regional linkages, fostering peace, stability, co-operation and development, he said. 

The country also wishes to strengthen friendship and partnership with leading partners while promoting a Việt Nam that is innovative and dynamic in its pursuit of international integration, he added.

Through APEC Year 2017, Việt Nam will have a chance to boost public awareness of the forum, he said.

Stressing the benefits that hosting the event will bring to localities, enterprises and people, the Deputy FM said that as the host of the event, Việt Nam expects to welcome tens of thousands of delegates to 200 activities across the country, opening up great opportunities for localities to attract visitors and advertise their products to APEC partners and world-leading businesses. 

Vietnamese enterprises, especially small and medium-sized ones, will have numerous opportunities to access the huge market that all member economies present, he said.

They can also establish links with potential strategic partners, enjoy favourable investment and businesses environments and take advantage of advanced technology, he said. 

Vietnamese people will also have more choices in employment, goods, services, healthcare, education and tourism thanks to programmes that APEC is implementing on people-to-people contact and tourism promotion, Son added. 

To tap all the opportunities, he urged localities nationwide to prepare well, especially in infrastructure development and workforce training.

On the outcomes of the recent informal APEC senior officials’ meeting, the Deputy FM said hundreds of experts, scholars, business representatives and leaders of ministries and localities of Việt Nam were in attendance. 

Broad support

He said APEC member economies voiced their support for the orientation, theme and priorities of the APEC Year 2017.

These include strengthening regional economic connectivity, fostering sustainable, creative and inclusive growth, supporting micro, small and medium firms and those led by women, and enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture. 

Participants also agreed on a timetable for APEC Year 2017, he said. He noted that the official website of APEC Year 2017 has become operational at apec2017.vn.

Smooth handover

Also yesterday, Peru officially handed over the Chair’s mantle for APEC 2017 to Việt Nam at the Informal Senior Official Meeting (ISOM) of APEC members. 

Việt Nam presented four priorities it has set for the coming event: Sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth; regional economic connectivity; improving the competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); food security and the development of sustainable farming in response to climate change. 

Approving these priorities, participants said building a new growth momentum was key to helping APEC prove its leadership and pioneering role in boosting economic recovery and connectivity across the region in the context of the current global slowdown. 

They proposed that APEC promotes sustainable and inclusive growth models that generate equal benefits for everyone. 

They also highlighted the necessity of organising more communication campaigns on the benefits that APEC programmes can bring to businesses and people in the region. 

Chairing the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn stated that all proposals made by participating countries were important in setting the direction for APEC activities over the next 12 months. 

The comments from all members will be studied and integrated into the official list of priorities for APEC 2017 to be passed at the first Senior Official Meeting (SOM1) slated for March 2017 in the central city of Nha Trang, he said. 

Next year, Việt Nam will also organise about 200 APEC events across 10 major cities, with the biggest being the APEC week in Đà Nẵng in November, he added. — VNS