Vietnam’s hosting of the APEC Year 2017, right after Peru, allows the close coordination between the two Governments and promote the approach and determination of shared concerns in fishery and the fight against drug crimes, Popolizio said.

He recalled the talks in Lima in November 2016 between Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang, during which numerous cooperation agreements were signed.

Based on those commitments, the first meeting of the Vietnam-Peru Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic and Technological Cooperation was held on October 23, 2017, thus helping boost bilateral collaboration in trade, investment and tourism, the Deputy Minister noted.

Regarding the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the diplomat affirmed that since its foundation, APEC has become a platform to foster economic growth in the region, with intra-regional trade up seven-fold. Strengthening trade and investment liberalisation has contributed to improving socio-economic indexes of APEC economies.

In the context of increasing protectionism and emerging global challenges, Peru proposed APEC better disseminate information about the benefits of trade liberalisation for development goals, link its trade-related agenda with its macro-economic agenda, pay more attention to adjustment costs which are becoming exhausted due to free trade agreements, and at the same time intensify economic and technological cooperation, particularly in increasing the quality of human resources.

About the message sent by the Peruvian Government to the host Vietnam ahead of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s attendance at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week, Popolizio said that Peru hopes APEC 2017 will continue working to achieve the Bogor goals by 2020, including trade and investment liberalisation, trade facilitation and enhancing economic and technological cooperation.

The country also expects APEC’s implementation of the Vision 2020, initiated in Lima last year, will be consolidated through the approval of the Vietnamese side in order to institutionalise this document.

On the basis of the Lima Declaration on Free Trade Agreement of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), Peru hopes leaders of APEC economies would adopt an Action Plan on the Declaration, clearing the path to realise the initiative to establish a free trade area in the region in the near future, he added.

The APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting is scheduled for November 6-11 in Da Nang city.

Vietnam is expected to welcome around 10,000 delegates, including leaders of 21 APEC member economies, over 2,000 leading corporate executives and nearly 3,000 reporters in the region and the world.

Established in 1989, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) comprises 21 economies, including 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.-VNA