KhanhHoa (VNA) – Contributions from committees under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to APECYear 2017 will help fulfill the Bogor Goals by 2020, Deputy Foreign MinisterBui Thanh Son has said.

In his opening remarks at the APEC First Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1) andrelated meetings in Nha Trang city, the central province of Khanh Hoa onFebruary 26, Son, who is also chair of the meeting, suggested committees focuson the forum’s priority orientations.

Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, Allan Bollard, updatedthe plans of the secretariat, which will focus on media campaigns to provide businesscommunities and the people with more detailed information of the APEC forum.

At meetings on trade, investment and budget management, representativesfrom APEC members discussed the importance of trade and investment in co-ordinatingthe agenda on liberalisation and facilitation of trade andinvestment and budgetmanagement-related activities within the APEC forum.

Regarding the Committee on Trade andInvestment, the sub-group on free trade area of the Asia-Pacific discussed the sub-group’s operations, helpingbusiness communities and scholars contribute to the process, and plans for2017.

Meanwhile, the Working Group onTrade Facilitation discussed the second phase of the Supply-Chain Connectivity Framework Action Plan in 2017-2020, towards improvingthe reliability of supply chains to improve business efficiency inAsia-Pacific.

The Economic Committee held a dialogue on government procurement, debating the roleof the APEC forum in managing government procurement. With international organisationslike the World Bank and the UnitedNations Commission on International Trade Law,representatives from APEC member economies shared experience in the fightagainst corruption, technological application, e-government procurementpromotion.

After workshops, the Competition Policyand Law Group also convened a plenary session on the same day. Apart from detailingthe implementation of projects and proposing new initiatives, participants atthe event announced changes in competition policy-related legal regulations,towards minimising interventions distorting the market and improvingefficiency.

Meanwhile, on theirsecond working day, members of the Committee on PolicyPartnership on Food Security discussed sustainable agriculture and aquatic resources  development, infrastructure investment, andtrade and market promotion.

At the Oceans and Fisheries Working Groups meeting, representatives from APEC economies reviewed the operationof centres under the forum related to ocean fishing, and discussed maritimeenvironmental protection and adapting to disasters and climate change.-VNA