Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang joined his counterparts from
19 of the 21 APEC member economies at the APEC Ministerial Meeting that
kicked off in Surabaya , Indonesia on April 20.
The two-day event was also attended by representatives from the
Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), the World Trade
Organisation (WTO), the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), and
the APEC Secretariat.
A number of issues and
initiatives will be tabled in order to prepare for the APEC Summit,
which is set to take place on Indonesia’s resort island Bali in October.
Trade and investment liberalisation will lie at the
heart of the discussion. Trade ministers will focus on ways to develop
infrastructure, promote investment and restructuring to establish a free
and open trade area by 2020.
Giata Wirijawan,
Indonesian Minister of Industry and Trade cum Chairman of the event,
stressed the importance of APEC in the global economy as it makes up as
much as 56 percent of GDP and 44 percent of trade of the world.
He emphasised the fundamental role of infrastructure in APEC’s process
to connect and integrate with regional economies, the economic
recovery, and sustainable economic growth and equality among
Asia-Pacific economies.
A number of issues to
support the multilateral trade system and APEC’s priorities in 2013 are
also under discussion, such as increasing exchanges and sharing
experience in improving management capacity, promoting connectivity
among APEC members and intensifying women’s involvement in economics and
human resource development.
The Vietnamese
delegation led by Minister Vu Huy Hoang is scheduled to take part in
bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the conference with officials
from the US, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia, China and
Canada to discuss issues of mutual concern, including the Trans-Pacific
Partnership Agreement (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP).-VNA