The meeting of utmost importancereviewed the final preparations for the 29th APEC Foreign and Economic Ministerial Meeting and the 25th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.

APEC senior officials summed up the activities of more than 50 committees and APEC working groups in 2017 to tackle the theme of APEC Year 2017 and four priorities for cooperation over the two days of the Concluding Senior Officials Meeting.

The meeting highly appreciated the positive progress of members in implementing APEC's plans and programs of action, especially on human resource development and educational cooperation; promotion of inclusive and sustainable growth; increasing economic empowerment for women; supporting micro, small and medium enterprises to reach the global market; business start-up and creativity in the digital age; improving competitiveness in the service sector; ensuring food security and sustainable agricultural development; and reform of economic structure.

The meeting also highly appreciated the results of the ministerial meetings held since the SOM3, especially the adoption of the Can Tho Declaration on Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture in line with Climate Change. This declaration is important for the sustainable and inclusive development of Vietnam in particular and APEC economies in general.

In the context of a better world economy, senior officials discussed the efforts to maintain open trade and free trade, and facilitation of investment and support for the multilateral trading system.

The conference adopted the Roadmap for Digital and Network Economy to report to the APEC Ministers; appreciated Vietnam's initiatives on facilitating cross-border e-commerce, enhancing the capacity of its members in supply chain linkages, and promoting supportive industries in Asia - Pacific, contributing to regional economic integration. Many members also expressed their support for efforts towards the formation of the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area (FTAAP).

To contribute to the efforts to improve the performance of the Forum, senior officials applauded the Economic Committee’s Common Plan of Action with the Senior Financial Officials’ Meeting (SFOM) and the APEC-OECD Framework for Competitive Policy Assessment, and agreed to maintain the long-term operation of the APEC Policy Support Agency (PSU).

The meeting agreed to present to the APEC Foreign-Economic Ministerial Meeting and APEC Economic Leaders some of the strategic documents that will guide APEC's long-term cooperation in the coming decades.

The 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week will continue with the 29th APEC Foreign-Economic Ministerial Meeting.

Thai An