By hosting the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Week, Vietnam has not only reaffirmed its policy of deepening international integration and attaching great importance to Asia-Pacific, according to an article published on Singaporean newswire www.theindependent.sg on November 5. 

The article also highlighted Vietnam’s strategic visions towards a peaceful, stable and dynamic Asia-Pacific region, which continues to be the driver of regional as well as global economic growth and linkages.

In the article entitled “APEC 2017: Vietnam contributing to regional inclusive growth”, the author said the APEC theme of “Creating new dynamism, Fostering a shared future” for 2017, set by Vietnam, was highly evaluated and supported by APEC members and partners.

On the basis of promoting the achievements of APEC cooperation over the past time, Vietnam has selected four major priorities, namely promoting sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth; deepening regional economic integration; strengthening micro, small and medium enterprises’ competitiveness and innovation in the digital age; and enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change.

Moreover, in the role of APEC’s Chair, Vietnam has received strong support from other APEC members for proposing many major initiatives, like establishing the mechanism for discussing APEC’s long-term cooperation.

This includes forming the Forum’s vision post-2020, holding high-level policy dialogues on developing human resources, APEC’s multilateral dialogues towards 2020, especially the initiative on promoting inclusiveness in developing regional economy, society, and finance.

It said the initiative on promoting inclusiveness in developing regional economy, society and finance are expected to connect APEC’s existing cooperative programs, providing all people with the fruits of globalisation and trade liberalisation, which has been widely supported by other APEC members, as it met many members’ concerns for ensuring their people as well as entrepreneurs take part fully and share interests equally from economic growth and connections, in the context of increased inequality and development gap.

The initiative reaffirms the practical role of APEC, meeting its members’ common expectations, contributing to the establishment of a sustainable and inclusively developing APEC community.

The article quoted Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, who is also APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting Chair, as saying that cooperation on inclusiveness between APEC economies, in fact, is scattered and lacking close coordination. APEC has not formulated comprehensive policies to boost economic, financial and social inclusiveness, while these three areas are interdependent and complementary to each other.

Meanwhile, UN Resident Representative to Vietnam, Kamal Malhotra highly regarded Vietnam’s initiative, highlighting that inclusive growth is a key element in the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development and reflects the principle of “leaving no one behind” and the UN’s vision of “building a just, equitable, tolerant, open and socially inclusive world, in which all the needs of the most vulnerable are met”.

Vietnam’s efforts to propose the suitable APEC theme, priorities and cooperative initiatives have met the concerns and interests of other APEC member economies, businesses and people, being consistent with the general trend in international cooperation and contributing to the regional socio-economic development strategies, including sustainable development and human-centred development, it concluded.

Vietnam to show potential through APEC 2017: Argentina expert

Prof. Ezequiel Ramoneda, coordinator at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies under the Institute for International Relations of Argentina’s National University of La Plata

Vietnam will make use of APEC 2017 to show the world its potential strength and the ability to overcome challenges while continuing to actively and effectively integrate into the world, in both politics and economy in Asia-Pacific.

The comment was made by Prof. Ezequiel Ramoneda, coordinator at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies under the Institute for International Relations of Argentina’s National University of La Plata, during a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency on the threshold of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

He said the US’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement has caused difficulties for its Asian-Pacific allies such as Japan or Australia, forcing these countries to re-consider their policies towards the US as well as their important relations amid the US’s trade policy changes and trade protectionism increase.

Many countries like Japan, Australia and Vietnam are trying to re-organise the situation and the proposed agreement is a TPP deal without the US.

Vietnam plays an important role in this process, he noted, elaborating that it has made firm economic development, and its open door policy has promoted trade agreements, including TPP, with economies around the world. Vietnam is engaging in negotiations on the China-initiated Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). It has also inked a bilateral free trade agreement with the European Union and actively participated in many agreements of ASEAN.

Ramoneda said with the policy of integrating into the world, Vietnam has not only boosted economic development but also actively taken part in setting up rules of the organisations that it wants to participate in.

Vietnam has played a proactive role in building a trade model in Asia-Pacific, he added.

Regarding Vietnam-Argentina relations, he noted that the Southeast Asian nation is the second biggest Asian-Pacific trade partner of his country. The number of Argentinean tourists to Vietnam is also growing. Sound bilateral relations can also be seen in frequent mutual visits by the two countries’ senior officials and experts.

The APEC Economic Leaders’ Week is underway in the central city of Da Nang from November 6 to 11. It features the most important events of the APEC Vietnam 2017, which is themed “Creating New Dynamism, Fostering A Shared Future”.

VNA