The 18th APEC Ministerial Meeting starts with closed-door session

VNGOVNet –A closed-door session, as part of a 2-day meeting, bringing together ministers of foreign and economic affairs from 21 APEC member economies with an agenda covering economic policies for the Asia-Pacific region took place at the National Convention Center, Hanoi, in the morning of November 15.

November 15, 2006 7:08 PM GMT+7

Photo: VNGOVNet

In his opening speech, Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs Phạm Gia Khiêm said: “The 18^th APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) is one of the most important events in APEC Year 2006. The Meeting will review the process made over the past year, bring into discussion and propose a host of new plans to promote trade and investment, as well as to build a secure and favorable business environment for development and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.”

During its 2-day sitting, the AMM is expected to focus its discussion on:

- Strengthening multilateral trade systems,

- Regional trade agreements (RTAs) and free trade agreements (FTAs),

- Hanoi Plan of Action towards the Busan Roadmap,

- Cooperation with the APEC Business Advisory Council,

- Counter-terrorism,

- APEC Reform and the future of APEC Process

The final topic is the promotion of transparency, anti-corruption; human security; capacity building and technical cooperation between member economies.

By Xuân Hồng