Lima (VNA)🍰 – Hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Year in 2017 is the centre of Vietnam’s external activities, demonstrating the country’s desire to contribute to APEC and regional development, said President Tran Dai Quang.

Addressing the closing ceremony of the APEC Summit 2016 in Lima, Peru on November 20, the President welcomed leaders and representatives of APEC economies to the APEC Year 2017 themed “ Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future.” Earlier the same day, the leader presented five proposals to ensure food security, climate change response and water resources access at the second plenary session of the 24 th APEC Summit. The APEC economies should display political resolve and take drastic measures to realise global climate agreements, the President said. He also suggested developing agriculture in a sustainable manner in tandem with the effective use of natural resources, including cross-border management of water resources. Other tasks include implementing the APEC Disaster Risk Reduction Framework and improving disaster recovery capacity, with a focus on community-based disaster risk management and sustainable rural development. President Quang also stressed the need to enhance connectivity between remote areas, step up public-private partnerships in investment in infrastructure, transportation, telecommunications and the internet. APEC should intensify mutual support in capacity improvement, technology transfer and share experience to guarantee sustainable and comprehensive development, he noted. The leader also underlined the significance of linking regional connectivity programmes together, including the ASEAN and Mekong Sub-region connectivity programmes. He explained that climate change, natural disasters and water scarcity have had adverse impacts on people’s lives, sustainable development and regional food security. Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, one of the world’s rice bowls, has been hit by severe drought and saltwater intrusion, affecting the livelihoods of tens of millions of people, he said. Participating leaders agreed that enhancing connectivity is essential for APEC member economies in the 21 st century in the context of globalisation and development of technologies and global value chains. They committed to coordinating in coping with climate change, ensuring food security and promoting connectivity in infrastructure, digital, institutions and humans to facilitate trade and investment exchange while improving living standards. On November 20 evening, President Quang and his spouse left Peru, concluding his trip to the 24 th High-Level Week of the APEC forum from November 17-20. He will then pay a State visit to Italy from November 21-24 at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella and visit the Vatican on November 23 as a guest of Pope Francis.-VNA