Senior officials from APEC member economies have highly evaluated and reaffirmed their support for the theme and priorities proposed by the host country Vietnam for APEC Year 2017.

Vietnamese delegates at the event.

At the ongoing first APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1) in south central Khanh Hoa province’s Nha Trang city, the delegates also emphasised the importance and need to enhance interactions with APEC’s finance and business cooperation channel.

They highlighted the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)’s important role in helping senior officials grasp shortcomings in the business and investment environment as well as the APEC business community’s aspiration in promoting inclusive growth, especially in dealing with practical issues such as removing non-tariff barriers, creating favourable conditions for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and fostering economic empowerment of women.

This is not only the need of businesses but also brings fair benefits to all people and prosperity to the entire society, they noted.

In the afternoon session, the delegates discussed and endorsed the reports of the Economic Committee (EC) and the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI).

Many initiatives and specific measures were put forth and discussed by the senior officials with the aim of accelerating the implementation of the priorities in 2017, particularly promoting sustainable and inclusive growth, regional economic integration and MSMEs.

On March 3, the meeting will hear and discuss contents within the framework of the SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE) and the Budget and Management Committee (BMC).

SOM1 will also continue discussions to concretise the proposed priorities of APEC Year 2017 and initially set out cooperation orientations for the forum from now to the APEC Economic Leaders Week slated for November in central Da Nang city.

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 United States and Vietnam.

VNA