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Chairman of the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC, Economic Leaders Meeting and President of Vietnam, Prof. Dr. Tran Dai Quang, said the group is the region’s premier economic forum.
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Tran made the remarks ahead of the upcoming APEC member summit, which will be held in Da Nang.
“In a globalized and changing world and a dynamically growing Asia-Pacific, APEC is facing both new opportunities and challenges. As the host of APEC 2017, it is Vietnam’s mandate to work with other member economies to transform the APEC Leaders’ commitments into tangible results,” Tran explained.
He said any such collaboration would bring APEC closer, stating that the course of economic growth and integration in the Asia Pacific region will benefit from opportunities created through improved globalization process.
“While global and regional economic recovery is firming, the environment for regional security and development has become ever more uncertain and unpredictable. This is an opportunity for APEC member economies to further deepen and elevate their cooperation towards building an Asia Pacific Partnership of sustainable and inclusive development in the 21st century,” he said.
The head of state also detailed that APEC leaders will discuss the following four main issues at the summit:
One, create new dynamism for the sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth of APEC member economies.
Two, promote trade and investment liberalization and strengthen regional connectivity.
Three, exert efforts in consolidating the leading role of APEC in global economic governance and response to common challenges.
Four, in preparing for APEC’s 4th decade of development, we need to discuss the steps taken to develop the Post-2020 Strategic Vision for the forum.
"These priorities aren't exactly new, and they are similar to those of the previous Apec chairs, including Peru last year," explained Dr. Alan Bollard, a former governor of New Zealand's Reserve Bank. "They remain important to this day, and we do need to have this sort of continuity from year to year to keep the talks going, as many of these issues are long-term in nature."
Bollard, who serves as an executive director of the APEC Secretariat, added that the summit is taking place at a "very complex" time, largely due to varying global views on trade policy.
“Fully aware of the importance of the close relations between Vietnam and APEC, Vietnam has always made active and responsible contributions to the work of the forum over the past 20 years,” Tran said.
“Entering the phase of comprehensive reforms, Vietnam wishes, through the hosting of the APEC Year 2017, to reaffirm its foreign policy of diversification, multi-lateralization of International relations and intensive international integration; being a reliable friend and partner of the international community.
“We will continue to work with other APEC member economies in building a peaceful, stable, dynamic, interconnected and prosperous Asia-Pacific community,” the president added.
Tran will host a lunch on Saturday to discuss ways to boost innovative growth, drive regional trade and investment as well as other issues.
U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong are scheduled to be at the summit.
APEC is a 21-member group comprising Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
Collectively the countries represent about 39 percent of the world's population, 57 percent of global GDP and 49 percent of international trade.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership countries, from which the United States withdrew in January, will meet on Friday.
Several remaining member nations are gunning to table a deal to eliminate tariffs on industrial and farm products.
The 11 member countries have a combined GDP of $12.4 trillion with total trade topping $356.3 billion last year.
It remains unclear whether the disputed South China Sea region will be the discussions.
Papua New Guinea, Chile and Malaysia will host the 2018, 2019 and 2020 summits, respectively.
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