Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) yesterday continued their discussions during two important sessions before wrapping up the 21st APEC Leaders' Meeting in Bali.
Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) yesterday continued their discussions during two important sessions before wrapping up the 21st APEC Leaders' Meeting in Bali.
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| President Truong Tan Sang with leaders of the Asia - Pacific Economic Co-operation at the 21st APEC Leaders' Meeting in Bali. |
The sessions were on APEC's vision of connectivity in the evolving regional and international architecture and sustainable growth attached to equality, food security, water resources and energy.
Addressing the sessions, President Truong Tan Sang underscored that connectivity had become essential for intra-bloc co-operation during the 21st century following the trend of globalisation, the strong development of innovation-oriented and digital technologies as well as the rapid expansion of the global supply chain.
Viet Nam backed the early approval and implementation of APEC's Supply Chain Connectivity Framework, focusing on practical necessary areas, especially connectivity through investment and funding for infrastructure, facilitating travel in the fields of labour, education, tourism, and increasing contributions by business community.
Sang also asked APEC to support ASEAN's goal of building an economic community by 2015, collaborate in implementing ASEAN's projects on infrastructure, supply chain connectivity, trade facilitation, food security and small- and medium-sized enterprises.
APEC members might make significant contributions to Mekong sub-region co-operation, especially in the programmes designated to connect and narrow the development gaps in the region, he added.
Regarding sustainable development attached to equality, Sang proposed new development thought and approaches to food security, water resources and energy on the basis of a long-term, multi-sectoral, renovative and creative vision.
Co-operation in the fields should become a priority in APEC's mechanism, he added.
"Viet Nam is fully aware of the importance of food security, water resources and energy, and has been actively participating in co-operation at all levels globally, inter-regionally, regionally as well as bilaterally," Sang said, adding that Viet Nam would continue to contribute to APEC's joint efforts.
The meeting officially closed after issuing a joint declaration on "Resilient Asia-Pacific, Engine of Global Growth" and a statement supporting a multilateral trading system and the ninth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation.
Also yesterday, President Sang and other leaders of the countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreed to settle remaining issues in order to complete negotiations within the year in a bid to reach a comprehensive and balanced deal.
President Sang called on TPP countries to take into account their different levels of economic development while offering technical support and improving their capacities to realise the commitments.
The 12 TPP negotiating members include Brunei, Canada, Chile, the US, Malaysia, Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Singapore and Viet Nam.
The next APEC Leaders' Meeting will be held in Beijing, China in 2014.
APEC member economies also agreed to support Viet Nam's bid to host the 25th APEC Leaders' Meeting in 2017.
Bilateral talks
President Sang has held bilateral meetings with leaders of China, Japan, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in Bali on the sidelines of the 21st APEC Summit.
Meeting with General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President Xi Jinping, President Sang expressed his belief that China would gain greater achievements during its process of open-door renovation and construction of China-characterised socialism.
He was confident that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's forthcoming official visit to Viet Nam would make a contribution to deepening the two countries' comprehensive strategic co-operative partnership.
Xi expressed his profound condolences to the Vietnamese Communist Party, State and people over the death of legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap.
The two sides expressed their delight at the fine progress of their Parties and States' relations, especially through the implementation of important agreements reached by high-ranking leaders after President Sang's visit to China in June.
Meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Sang thanked the Japanese Government for maintaining high levels of official development assistance (ODA) for Viet Nam, and asked for the country's support to Viet Nam's economic restructuring towards industrialisation and modernisation.
Abe spoke highly of the success of the 2013 Viet Nam-Japan Friendship Year, and agreed on the need for the two countries to exert more efforts to realise the potential of their Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and co-ordinate in negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
The two sides also exchanged views on key issues of APEC-related meetings as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern.
They agreed that peace, stability, maritime security and safety at sea, including the East Sea and East China Sea, were important to the development of the whole region, and relevant countries needed to solve all disputes by peaceful means in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea.
President Sang also met with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who said that his country would maintain ODA for Viet Nam's socio-economic development, poverty reduction and human resources training.
The two leaders discussed directions to boost the Viet Nam-New Zealand comprehensive partnership, especially strengthening high-ranking delegation exchanges and effectively implementing the 2013-16 action programme on co-operation in economics, trade, investment, agriculture and education.
They also exchanged views on key co-operation activities among APEC member economies and co-ordination in TPP negotiations.
Meeting with Papua New Guinean PM Peter O'Neill, Sang affirmed that Viet Nam attached importance to fostering its friendship and co-operation with Papua New Guinea, and was willing to act as a bridge for the country to co-operate with ASEAN and Southeast Asia.
To strengthen mutual understanding and tap their two countries' potential, both leaders stressed the need to intensify the exchanges of delegations and businesses, establish inter-governmental co-operation mechanisms and complete a legal framework to create favourable conditions for co-operation projects and programmes on trade, investment, culture, tourism, agriculture, aquaculture and energy.
Earlier, President Sang also held a meeting with executives from major US groups and companies.
Accompanying the President on the trip, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Russia, Mexico and Peru the same day.
(Source:VNS)
