Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has play๊ed an active role in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum over the past 17 years and is set to continue constructive performance at the 23rd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) held in Manila, the Philippines, from November 17 – 19.

At the invitation of his Philippine counterpart Benigno Aquino III, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and his spouse will attend the meeting, which is themed “Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World”. The event will focus on sustainable and inclusive growth; economic connectivity; multilateral trading systems; the promotion of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises; and the creation of a resilient, sustainable community. The Vietnamese delegation is expected to contribute to the 23rd meeting’s key components, especially matters pertaining to economic connectivity; human resources development; food safety; and micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses. It will also hold bilateral meetings at the event to intensify Vietnam’s relations with its partners. Vietnam joined APEC in 1998, which was a crucial step toward implementing its foreign policies of diversification, multilateralisation and international economic integration. The forum gathers almost all of Vietnam’s leading partners, including seven strategic partners (Russia, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore) and five comprehensive ones (the US, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Chile). The Southeast Asian country has engaged in cooperation within APEC in an active manner over the past 17 years. It successfully served as the APEC Chair in 2006 with the organisation of the 14th AELM, the 18th APEC Ministerial Meetings of foreign and economic/trade ministers and over 100 other events, where regional officials set up the long-term prospect of a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific, the Hanoi Action Plan on realising the Bogor Goals, along with overall reform measures, creating new momentums for APEC cooperation. Since 2006, Vietnam has proposed and participated in over 90 initiatives covering a wide range of areas such as trade, investment, economic-technical cooperation, emergency response, health care, anti-terrorism, food and energy security, and small- and medium-sized enterprises. It also succeeded in hosting the sixth APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting in Hanoi in September 2014. At that event, delegates issued the 2015-2018 Action Plan, which aims to promote quality employment and strengthen people-to-people connectivity through human resources development. It has also served many key positions in the forum like the Vice Chair of the Committee on Trade and Investment, and the Chair of the Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group in 2006. It was also the Chair of the Budget and Management Committee in 2007, the Vice Chair of the Health Working Group in 2009 and 2010, and the Chair of the Emergency Preparedness Working Group in 2012 and 2013. Vietnam has also held a number of important APEC activities this year, including 10 workshops and dialogues on public-private partnership in infrastructure development, developing dry ports, energy management systems, finance for renewable energy, community-based disaster management, improving markets’ competitiveness, and food safety in aquaculture. The country has suggested 13 projects on economic connectivity (global apparel value chain, free trade agreement negotiation skills), energy (renewable, wind, biological energy), small- and medium-sized companies, and food safety. All of them have been approved. It will once again host APEC meetings in 2017 and is working hard to prepare for the events.-VNA