The 29^th APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) took place at the Ariyana Convention Centre in Da Nang on Wednesday as part of the ongoing 2017 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week.

Deputy Prime Minister Minh presiding over the 29th AMM

The Meeting was jointly chaired by the Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the APEC 2017 National Committee, Mr Pham Binh Minh, and Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

In his opening speech at the one-day event, Deputy Prime Minister Minh highlighted the importance of the APEC bloc in securing the Asia-Pacific region as an engine of global economic growth and integration for the benefit of people and businesses worldwide.

Deputy Prime Minister Minh affirmed that the 29^th AMM aims to create a consensus amongst the APEC ministers.  This, thereby, will help to precede and finalise good preparations for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on Saturday which is the most important activity of Viet Nam’s year-long hosting of APEC meetings.

Participants exchanging their opinions on the sidelines of the event

Photos: QUOC KHAI

In addition, Minister of Industry and Trade Anh highlighted the significance of achieving the Bogor Goals which are a set of targeted goals for realising free and open trade in the Asia-Pacific agreed by member economies in 1994 in Bogor, Indonesia.

The leaders of the APEC member economies together passed the long-term goal of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.  This goal will be pursued promptly by further reducing barriers to trade and investment, and by promoting the free flow of goods, services and capital amongst APEC economies.

During 2 sessions on Wednesday morning, the focus was on discussions about the topics of ‘International and regional contexts and the leadership role of APEC’ and ‘Creating new dynamism for growth’. The afternoon session concentrated on ‘Creating new dynamism for regional economic integration’.

According to the Permanent Deputy Foreign Minister cum APEC 2017 SOM (Senior Officials’ Meeting) Chair, Mr Bui Thanh Son, some strategic documents for promoting long-term cooperation amongst the APEC member economies for the coming decades were represented at this 29^th AMM.  These important documents will also be released at the upcoming APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting for consideration.

Since the start of this year, 9 ministerial - level meetings and dialogues, along with over 200 committee and sub-fora meetings have been organised in various big cities across VietNam with a focus on discussing issues around the theme and 4 priorities proposed by the host economy.