Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son
In his opening speech, Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said this year presented both difficulties and opportunities to APEC cooperation.“But the good thing is that even facing such difficulties, we have managed to secure many important results, such as maintaining the momentum of cooperation and reaching convergences in a wide range of issues to boost this year’s priorities and support other APEC ongoing works,” he said.“We have greatly benefited from the active engagement and contributions of all member economies and other stakeholders to advance this APEC process in our designed direction,” he added. During the two-day meeting, the focus is on reviewing the progress of APEC cooperation this year to be reported to APEC leaders, and finalising the APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) statement and the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) Declaration.The SOM1 was held in the central province of Khanh Hoa in February while the SOM2 transpired in Hanoi in May and the SOM3 in Ho Chi Minh City in September.The APEC Economic Leaders’ Week, taking place from November 6-11 is expected to see about 10,000 delegates from the 21 APEC member economies.