The Concluding Senior Officials’ Meeting (CSOM) convened in the central city of Da Nang on November 6, kicking off the APEC 2017 Economic Leaders’ Week.

Scene at the APEC Concluding Senior Officials’ Meeting 

The two-day meeting is chaired by Bui Thanh Son, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and APEC 2017 SOM Chair.

In his opening remark, Son said this year presented both difficulties and opportunities to APEC cooperation. “But the good thing is that even facing such difficulties, we have managed to secure many important results, such as maintaining the momentum of cooperation and reaching convergences in a wide range of issues to boost this year’s priorities and support other APEC ongoing works,” he said.

“We have greatly benefited from the active engagement and contributions of all member economies and other stakeholders to advance this APEC process in our designed direction,” he added.

The meeting will focus on two key objectives: reviewing the progress of APEC cooperation this year to be reported to APEC leaders, and finalising the APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) statement and the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) Declaration.

He urged senior officials to use this meeting in the most constructive way to discuss all standing issues.

The SOM1 was held in the central province of Khanh Hoa in February while the SOM2 took place in Hanoi in May and the SOM3 in Ho Chi Minh City in September.

The APEC Economic Leaders’ Week, taking place from November 6-11 is expected to draw about 10,000 delegates from the 21 APEC member economies.

Established in 1989, 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 Taiwan, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.

The APEC represents 39 percent of the world population, 57 percent of the world GDP and 47 percent of the total trade.

VNA