On March 1, the first APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1) and related meetings entered the 12th working day - the last working day of APEC committees before SOM1 begins its two-day gathering on March 2.

APEC delegates pose for group photo

As scheduled, there will be three meetings of APEC committees on March 1, including the SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE) Meeting, the SOM Friends of the Chair (FotC) on Connectivity and the Policy Support Unit (PSU) Meeting.

In the afternoon, APEC Secretariat Executive Director Dr Alan Bollard and APEC Policy Support Unit Director Dr Denis Hew will have a meeting with the media to share their views on the context for the SOM1 and discuss the outlook for policy collaboration between Vietnam and other APEC economies moving forward.

Being held in Nha Trang city, the south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa, from February 18 to March 3, the APEC SOM1 and related meetings consist of 56 meetings, workshops and dialogues of 38 APEC committees and working groups.

Under the theme of “Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future,” the delegates have been discussing and reaching consensus on priorities and their contents for the 2017 APEC Year on promoting sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth, regional economic connectivity, competitiveness of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the digital era, food security, and climate change adaptation.

The APEC forum includes 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 United States and Vietnam - which together account for 39 percent of the world’s population and make up 59 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 48 percent of the global trade.

APEC seeks to foster economic, technical cooperation

A meeting at APEC SOM-1 

As part of the first APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1) and related meetings, the SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE) – Committee of the Whole (COW) convened its meeting in Nha Trang city, south central province of Khanh Hoa, on February 28.

In his opening remarks, Vietnamese Permanent Deputy Foreign Minister and APEC 2017 SOM Chair Bui Thanh Son said built on the overarching theme of "Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future" as well as the outcomes and deliverables from the past years, and after careful consultation with member economies, Vietnam has proposed four priorities for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Year 2017.

According to the Deputy Minister, the first priority is to promote sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth. Structural reform and innovation play a significant role in bolstering growth and improving productivity. Human resource development, education, lifelong learning and re-skilling in particular, will be crucial to ensure all segments of our societies can actively participate in the workforce and benefit from the technological revolution.

The second priority is on regional economic integration and connectivity. It is important for APEC to accelerate the realisation of the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in Asia Pacific with a new sense of urgency. APEC needs to fulfill the unfinished businesses to achieve the Bogor Goals. At the same time, APEC needs to envision its future and role in the region and the world.

Son stressed that the APEC members need to reaffirm its support to the multilateral trading system, and implement the Lima Declaration on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). It is also important to continue implementation of the APEC Connectivity Blueprint, enhance global value chains and supporting industries, and facilitate cross-border e-commerce, investment and services.

The third priority is to help create dynamism for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) - a key driver of the region's growth, which account for about 97 percent of the total number of APEC businesses. The APEC members should seek ways to make value chains more inclusive, with greater participation of MSMEs, focus on creating a more enabling business environment for MSMEs in the digital age and promote start-ups and innovative MSMEs, Son said.

Improving food security and achieve sustainable agriculture is the fourth priority for APEC 2017. This is the second goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The transfer and application of technology will be crucial to improving agricultural productivity and resilience to climate change. The APEC members will need to collaborate to sustainably manage resources, including water, while pursuing existing efforts related to the food market and sustainable and inclusive development of rural areas.

The diplomat went on to say that these priorities are aligned with the medium-term priorities the SCE has established for the 2015 – 2019 period. As a SOM-level Committee, Son said, the SCE plays a very important role in overseeing the efficient functioning of all its working groups and forums, enhancing cross-forum collaboration to better address cross-cutting issues, as well as steering the APEC work on Ecotech.

The four priorities of APEC 2017 contain lots of cross-cutting issues, which require close collaboration among relevant APEC committees, working groups and forum. Therefore, very much count on the support and contribution of the SCE to the overall work of APEC this year, he concluded.

The APEC forum includes 21 members - 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 US and Vietnam.

By the end of November 2016, the APEC member economies accounted for 39 percent of the world’s population and made up 59 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 48 percent of the global trade value.

APEC meetings discuss various issues on 11th working day

Scene at the meeting of the Ad Hoc Steering Group on the Internet Economy (AHSGIE1)

A wide range of issues were deliberated during meetings held in Nha Trang, the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa, on February 28 within the framework of the first APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1) and related meetings.

At its meeting, the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) re-examined the work plans in 2017 of subordinate working groups such as Chemical Dialogue (CD), Life Sciences Innovation Forum (LSIF), Intellectual Property Rights Experts Group (IPEG) and Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance (SCSC).

Delegates from the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum also shared new initiatives that can be implemented in the coming time, focusing on fostering the participation of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the global value chain, dialogues on regulations of origin, and enhancing the capacity of negotiating free trade agreements.

As a committee coordinating the APEC trade and investment liberalization agenda, the CTI put forth initiatives and solutions that are crucial to promoting economic connectivity amid slow global economic and trade growth.

Meanwhile, the Economic Committee (EC) debated the building of the APEC Economic Policy Report 2017 with the theme of “Structural reform and human resource development.”

Delegates attending the EC meeting re-examined the APEC Structural Reform Agenda and the APEC Ease of Doing Business Action Plan for 2016-2018, and at the same time, proposed a number of new initiatives.

At the meeting, Dr Vo Tri Thanh, a representative of the Vietnamese delegation, briefed the participants on Vietnam’s recent economic situation and development prospects in the future.

Thanh noted that it is now a turning-point in Vietnam’s reform process, adding that domestic reform and international integration is connected more closely. Vietnam needs to change its development model and create a firm foundation to overcome the middle income trap facing regional economies, he suggested.

During the SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE) Meeting, the chair of its subordinate working groups presented an action plan for 2017 that was approved in meetings in recent days, and highlighted activities that contribute to the implementation of four priorities in APEC Year 2017.

The SCE also deliberated the performance of capacity enhancement policy with the aim of providing more resources, experience and expertise for developing economies to deploy their commitments and take full advantage of APEC cooperation opportunities.

The Ad Hoc Steering Group on the Internet Economy (AHSGIE) wrapped up its activities today after endorsing steps to build an Internet Economy Roadmap scheduled for completion by the end of 2017. This was the final event of working groups within SOM1 and related meetings.

VNA