Hanoi (VNA) - An informal dialogue on shaping anintegrated and inclusive Asia-Pacific took place in Hanoi on May 21 under thechair of Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran🍎 Tuan Anh.

The event saw the attendance of ministers and representatives ofAPEC member economies and other regional cooperation mechanisms, including theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the PacificAlliance (PA), the Euroasia Economic Union (EAEU) and the Pacific EconomicCooperation Council (PECC). This is the first activity gathering representatives of key Asia-Pacific  connection mechanisms, in which APEC membershave the leading role, to exchange information and review regional connectivityand discuss measures to strengthen the collaboration among the mechanisms as wellas foster economic connectivity intensively and extensively. Speaking at the event, Minister Tran TuanAnh affirmed that APEC is enjoying unprecedented opportunities of regionalconnectivity. Regional economies are pursuing an ambitiousobjective of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and a closelyintegrated Asia-Pacific community, he said, adding that today, economicconnection means growth and prosperity. At the event, delegates spoke highly ofVietnam’s initiative to organise the dialogue to  contribute to boosting regional connectivity inorder to shaping a closely integrated Asia-Pacific, in which every person andenterprise contribute to and benefit from the international economic connectionprocess. They also stressed the important role ofAsia-Pacific as the initiator of ideas for cooperation and connection, and as alocomotive of regional growth and economic connectivity. Economic connectivity has become a drivingforce for sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth in the context that the globaleconomy recovers more positively but still remains risks, they noted. The officials agreed that the formation ofmore multi-level integrated and cooperative mechanisms at present is a vividmanifestation of the region’s dynamism. However, it also requests moreeffective and synchronous cooperation between regional connection mechanisms tobring more practical benefits for people and enterprises, they said. They held that more than ever, the currentand emerging regional connectivity and cooperation mechanisms need to supplementeach other to improve the efficiency and transparency of regional governance, thusstrengthening Asia-Pacific’s capacity in coping with rising challenges so thatAsia-Pacific continues to affirm its leading role globally in growth andeconomic connectivity in the third decade of the 21 century.-VNA