Ministers of
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum have affirmed the need to
take “concrete steps” toward the goal of creating a region-wide free trade area,
and to resist protectionism.

In a joint statement issued at the
end of a two-day meeting in Yokohama, Japan, on Nov. 11, trade and foreign
ministers of the 21 APEC economies emphasised that taking concrete steps toward
the realisation of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific ( FTAAP) is an
important part of the regional economic integration (REI) agenda.

At the meeting, the ministers had an intensive discussion on the economies’
progress toward achieving the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment,
and agreed to work together to speed up the Doha round of talks on global trade
liberalisation.

The ministers recommended the APEC leaders continue to extend the 2008
commitments to not increasing barriers to the flows of goods and services as
well as investment barriers, and not imposing new measures to control exports or
performing measures that go counter to regulations of the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) in all fields until 2013.

They reaffirmed the importance of continuing to implement the existing
principles and endorsed the formulation of the APEC Strategy for Investment,
which consists of three pillars: advanced principles and practices;
facilitation; and promotion.

The ministers also recognised the importance of enhancing communication between
the private sector and policymakers, and agreed to hold the APEC Public-Private
Dialogue on Investment.

Having assessed APEC as the world’s leading growth centre after the global
financial crisis, the ministers warned that the crisis has yet to end absolutely
and global economic recovery remains weak, while APEC is facing a range of
challenges in creating jobs and strengthening its financial platform.

In this context, APEC has the role to share a growth strategy to sustain
recovery and to lay the foundation for global future prosperity. The ministers
agreed to work together with other relevant international forums, including the
G20 and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The outcomes reached at the 22nd APEC Ministerial Meeting of foreign and
economic/trade ministers will be submitted to the APEC summit scheduled to take
place on Nov. 13-14.

Statistics released by the Japanese Government show APEC currently accounts for
52.7 percent of the world’s GDP and 44.4 percent of global trade value.

Vietnam ’s Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and
Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang attended the meeting.

Addressing the event, Vietnam ’s Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham
Gia Khiem hailed APEC’s recent growth achievements and the integration of
regional economies, saying these have created a facelift for the business
environment in Asia-Pacific.

He noted that in the post-crisis era, APEC’s formulation of a new growth
strategy was a significant development move.

The Deputy PM underscored the need for the forum to increase the supply of
resources as well as coordination with existing regional mechanisms, especially
ASEAN and ASEAN+, to effectively carry out this strategy and other cooperative
programmes to bring APEC into a new period of growth.

On the sidelines of the event, Deputy PM Khiem and Minister of Industry and
Trade Vu Huy Hoang held bilateral meetings with the delegation heads of APEC
member economies, including Japan, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and
Mexico.

They discussed measures to boost bilateral ties along with international and
regional issues of common concern and coordination at multilateral forums.

The delegation heads spoke highly of Vietnam ’s successes in maintaining its
growth rate and its growing international position and viewed the country’s
successful role as ASEAN Chair in 2010 as contributing to enhancing ASEAN’s role
in the region’s new structure and in APEC in particular.

At his meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, Deputy PM and FM
Pham Gia Khiem gave a high evaluation of Japan’s successful organisation of the
22nd APEC Trade and Foreign Ministers Meeting and expressed his belief that the
country’s careful preparation for the 18th APEC Summit would help steer APEC
cooperation along a new direction of greater practicality and efficiency.

The two FMs showed their determination to bolster the two countries’ specific
cooperative measures that have recently been adopted by their leaders,
especially those agreed in Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan ’s Vietnam visit.

VNN/VOV/Vietnamplus