Quang Nam (VNA) – The 24th APEC Finance Ministers’Meeting – the most important event of the APEC Finance Ministers Process - openedin Hoi An ancient city in the central province of Quang Nam on October21.

The event drew theparticipation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and around 300domestic and international delegates, including finance ministers, leaders ofcentral banks of 21 APEC economies and representatives of the International MonetaryFund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and theOrganisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

In his opening remarks,Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc called on the 21 APEC economies to join handsand share experience for sustainable development of the Asia-Pacific as theregion is facing a range of challenges such as sluggish trade growth andincreasing protectionism and non-tax methods as forecast by the ADB whilefinancial resources remain limited.

In the past years, APECfinance ministers have bolstered proactive and sound cooperation to realisegoals in fostering economic connections and promoting innovative and inclusivegrowth, he said, adding that they have also worked to enhance the competitivenessof small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

PM Phuc spoke highly ofthe four priorities in the APEC Year 2017, which include Long-term Investment in Infrastructure,Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance andFinancial Inclusion.

Vietnam has belonged to the group of developing countrieswith middle income since 2010 after over three decades of reform, he said,adding that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016 stood at 6.21percent and the figure is expected to increase to 6.7 percent in 2017 while itsinflation rate is kept under 5 percent and public debt is controlled below 65percent of the GDP.

Vietnam’s export value exceeded the 200 billion USD benchmark and the amount ofdisbursed foreign investment was 15 billion USD, PM Phuc said, stressing that thenation is targeting an annual average economic growth rate of 6.5-7 percent duringthe 2016-2020 period.

♛[APEC 2017: Delegates laud Vietnam’s financial cooperation initiatives]

These achievements were spurred by contributions from the publicfinance sector with increasing financial incomes and development of the financialmarket, he stressed.

For benefits of both people and enterprises, the VietnameseGovernment will further step up reform and restructure the economy, especiallythe financial sector, towards improving the efficiency, competition quality, inclusiveand sustainable growth, the PM added.

Vietnamese Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung said that APECfinance ministers will focus on the priorities and seek solutions to global andregional challenges, saying the moves will enhance stable financial connectionin the Asia-Pacific region.

The ministers are set to share experiences, give comments onglobal and regional financial situation and discuss results of cooperation in thefour priorities in the framework of Finance Ministers’ Process (FMP) andimplementation of the Cebu Action Plan, he said.

Dung asked international organisations to accompany andsupport the FMP to tackle common challenges in the region.

Established in 1989, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forumcomprises 21 economies, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, HongKong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, NewZealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, ChineseTaipei, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.-VNA