Hanoi (VNA) – Rasmei Kampuchea, a daily Cambodian newspaper in Khmer language,published an article on November 5, analysing Vietnam’s role as the host of theAPEC Year 2017.

The article statedthat hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is a priorityin Vietnam’s foreign policy. It said alongside the country’s commitments to theASEAN, United Nations and the World Trade Organisation, the APEC Year 2017proves its progress in multilateral diplomacy and global integration.

The paper describedthe APEC forum as a key platform for Vietnam’s integration, as the bloc groups13 out of the country’s 25 strategic and comprehensive partners. Vietnam hassigned free trade agreements with 18 out of 20 APEC member economies.

The articlesummarised the country’s history in APEC, including the hosting of the APECYear 2006, when the 14th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting took place and theHanoi Action Plan on the implementation of the Bogor Goals and on long-termcooperation orientations was passed. In 2014, the Vietnamese capital became thevenue of the 6th APEC Human Resource Development MinisterialMeeting.

The paper saidVietnam is an active APEC member economy, which has proposed and implementedmore than 100 projects in commerce, investment, economic and technicalcooperation, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) development, health,food security, and anti-terrorism.

It said Vietnamhas performed well as chair, co-chair and deputy chair of meetings of APECcommittees and working groups on SMEs, energy, food security, natural disastersprevention, and sustainable tourism, among others.

In 2013, Vietnamregistered to host the APEC Year 2017. The role reflects Vietnam’scontributions to the cooperation forum toward the 20th anniversaryof the country’s APEC membership (1998 - 2008), the article noted.

Established in1989, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) groups Australia, Brunei,Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic ofKorea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines,Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.

It representsabout 39 percent of the world’s population and contributes 57 percent to globalGDP and 49 percent of international trade.

Every year, a hostmember holds more than 200 APEC events, including about 8-12 ministerialmeetings, with the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week being the most important andoften held at the end of the year. The bloc aims to complete the Bogor Goals onrealising free and open trade in the Asia-Pacific in 2020.

This year’s APECEconomic Leaders’ Week began in Da Nang, Vietnam, on November 6, lastingthrough November 11.-VNA