VN President Underscores Free Trade, Cooperation in APEC

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet on Tuesday called on APEC member economies to further boost cooperation to deal with challenges, as well as facilitate trade and investment liberalization.

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet on Tuesday called on APEC member economies to further boost cooperation to deal with challenges, as well as facilitate trade and investment liberalization.

VN President Underscores Free Trade, Cooperation in APEC ảnh 1
Vietnamese artists perform in Ha Noi on Tuesday to celebrate the APEC Economic Leaders' Week (Photo: SGGP)

Addressing the opening of a three-day APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) meeting in Ha Noi, Mr. Triet said APEC was responsible for half of the world trade and 60% of the global GDP and accounted for 40% of the world’s population.

The President said, “Trade and investment liberalization and facilitation will create a driving force and bring prosperity to the entire APEC region and each member economy.”
 
The three-day ABAC meeting, themed “Driving forward a prosperous and harmonized APEC community”, is discussing trade and investment liberalization, finance, capacity building, technology and other related issues. It is part of the 14th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Ha Noi on November 18-19, in which President Triet will be the chairman.

He said APEC is facing a host of challenges including growing development gaps, strong price volatility, natural disasters, continuous epidemics and signs of protectionism.

“Protectionism is hindering the flows of capital, services, technology and labor,” said the Vietnamese President.  

He added the recommendations in an ABAC report would be certainly taken into careful consideration by the APEC economic leaders during their meeting.

On Thursday, ABAC will officially publicize its recommendations for the economic leaders’ meeting, Mr. Hoang Van Dung, ABAC chairman and vice chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Sai Gon Giai Phong.

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