The second APEC Senior Officials Meetings entered its fourth working day in Ho Chi Minh City on May 25 with five meetings, of which the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) also conducted its fourth working day.
CTI discussed planning assistance of the multilateral commercial system and the acceleration of the World Trade Organization’s Doha negotiation round. They also considered contributions to the the statement of the Conference of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT).
Regarding trade facilitation, the delegations of Viet Nam, Hong Kong and Malaysia and some experts delivered reports on relevant issues. The Malaysian delegation’s proposal on standardizing trade forms among the 21 APEC member economies was notable.
The US delegation presented a report of achievements and unsolved issues relating to a digitalized economy and intellectual property rights.
CTI proposed measures to fight unlicensed software and copyright infringements to be part of the APEC declaration at the APEC Summit this November in Ha Noi.
May 25 was the final day of the sub-groups of the Human Resource Development Working Group (HRDWG), Education Net, Labor and Society Protection Net, and Capacity Building Net. The delegates discussed capacity development projects in education and vocational training, information technology and experience exchange.
The results of the sub-group discussions will be reported at the plenary session on May 26 and submitted to the SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE) meeting on May 27.
The Informal Experts’ Group on Business Mobility (IEGBM) in its final session on May 25 discussed the APEC Business Travel Card program, which exempts APEC business people who hold valid 3-year cards from entry and exit visa requirements within APEC member economies for maximum 60-day stays.
Till now, 17 APEC member economies have joined the travel card program, including Viet Nam. Due to difficult procedures, it took three months to issue this card, and just 9,500 cards have been issued so far.
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