APEC 2006 SOM II Opened in Ho Chi Minh City

(ĐN) - On May 22, the second APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM II) and related meetings were officially opened in Ho Chi Minh City, taking place from May 22-30.

At the Second Senior Official Meeting Plenary Session in HCM city

(ĐN) - On May 22, the second APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM II) and related meetings were officially opened in Ho Chi Minh City, taking place from May 22-30. The first working group meetings of SOM II organised at Sheraton and Park Hyatt hotels attracted hundreds of delegates from 21 APEC member economies. The conference and also 26 related meetings are the preparatory activities for the gathering of the trade ministers of member countries, organized right after, from June 1-2. The APEC Trade Ministers Meeting is the most important ministerial summit in preparation for the agenda of the Foreign Affairs and Trade Inter-ministerial Meeting and Economic Leaders Meeting to be held in Hanoi in November.

SOM II and related meetings discuss such major issues as the WTO, Action Plan to implement the Busan Roadmap and Bogor targets, regional and bilateral free trade agreements, APEC Trade and Investment Liberalization and facilitation (TILF), economic and technical cooperation, human security, reform of APEC and other issues.

Nguyen Thanh Chau, Vice Chairman of the secretariat of the Viet Nam APEC National Committee said that so far, about 1,000 delegates from 21 APEC member economies have registered to join the SOM II, among them, over 800 are from international organizations.

The APEC year with the theme of "Towards a Dynamic Community for Sustainable Development and Prosperity" includes four topics that will be discussed at SOM I, SOM II and SOM III such as strengthening trade and investment through the implementation of Busan roadmap and the enhancement of Doha round, strengthening economic and technical cooperation for narrowing gaps and sustainable development, speeding up a safe and favourable business environment, and community connectivity.

There will be more than 100 conferences and relevant events held during the year, with the first senior official meeting (SOM I) held in Hanoi from the end of February to the beginning of March. In the SOM I, Vietnam welcomed more than 800 participants and held 40 related meetings to discuss APEC’s directions.

Two major APEC 2006-related events, which are the ABAC (APEC Business Advisory Council) and APEC CEO (chief executive official) summit will see the participation of thousands of CEOs from 21 APEC member economies.

The APEC 2006 summit will be the biggest international event to be held in Vietnam. The week-long gathering of the leaders of 21 member economies from November 12 to 19 in Hanoi will be the key activity. Vietnams priorities for APEC 2006 would be APEC’s main pillars and would also be the continuation of the themes of previous and succeeding summits.

K.L