Khanh Hoa (VNA) – Established in November1989 with 12 founding members, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)Forum has now become the region’s largest economic cooperation mechanism with21 economies which together account for 39 percent of the world’s population,59 percent of the world’s GDP and 48 percent of the global trade.

The overall goal that the APEC members have pursuedover the past years is to promote trade and investment liberalisation andexpand regional economic connectivity by developing infrastructure and buildingreliable and transparent supply chains towards a Free Trade Area of theAsia-Pacific (FTAAP). APEC was the first multilateral economic forum to reachconsensus on the List of Environmental Goods which has promoted by the WorldTrade Organisation (WTO).

Vietnam officially joined APEC in 1998 and hosted APECYear for the first time in 2006. This year, Vietnam proposed the theme,priorities and work for APEC with the inheritance of achievements from theprevious hosts and its own initiatives in a bid to accelerate theimplementation of the forum’s overall goal towards a prosperous community.

Builtaround the overarching theme of "Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a SharedFuture", Vietnam has proposed four priorities: Promoting Sustainable, Innovative andInclusive Growth; Deepening Regional Economic Integration; Strengthening MSMEs’Competitiveness and Innovation in the Digital Age; and Enhancing Food Security and SustainableAgriculture in Response to Climate Change. Of these,Vietnam inherited the cooperation priorities related to regional economicintegration and food from the Peru, the host of APEC Year 2016.

At the first APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1),being held in Khanh Hoa province’s Nha Trang city from March 2-3, delegateshighly evaluated and supported the priorities proposed by Vietnam, saying thatthe inheritance is necessary to bring in good results, benefiting all APECmember economies.

Talking with the Vietnam News Agency’s correspondents,Lahui Ako, Director-General at the APEC Secretariat of Papua New Guinea - thehost country of APEC Year 2018 - said many APEC members are developingeconomies. This year, the agenda has various issues that are very important tothe developing economies, particularly Papua New Guinea, such as rural,economic and human resources development.

“The priorities are often determined by the next hoststwo or three years earlier. Discussions in Vietnam this year could be continuedin Papua New Guinea. Based on Vietnam’s agenda, we shared our ideas aboutconnectivity, export subsidy and trade issues at the meeting,” he added.

As the host of APEC Year 2019, Chile expected thatwill be a chance for delegates from the member economies to study the societyand private sector in Chile and how the APEC priorities are put in place, saidMarcela Otero, Director of Multilateral Economic Affairs at the Ministry ofForeign Affairs of Chile.

“We will continue with APEC’s common priorities andwork in half done in Peru last year, Vietnam this year and Papua New Guinea in2018. That is the continuity for prosperity in our region,” she said.

According to the official, there will be a lot ofevents in 2020, including the deadline for the Bogor Goals. In 2010, developed economiesfailed to achieve the Bogor Goals, hence, Chile expected the goals will befulfilled in 2020.

Twenty-eight years on since APEC’s inception, the forum’sjourney with the continuity, inheritance and initiatives always looks towards aprosperous Asia-Pacific region.-VNA