Khanh Hoa (VNA) - The first Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1) and relatedmeetings have successfully concluded with positive outcomes, laying afoundation for the next events from now to the year-end, said a high-rankingdiplomat.

While chairinga press conference at the end of SOM1 on March 3 in south central Khanh Hoa’sNha Trang city, Permanent Deputy Foreign Minister, APEC 2017 SOM Chair BuiThanh Son said APEC member economies paid due attention to SOM1 and relatedmeetings as they were the first official gatherings of APEC in 2017, which setout cooperation orientations for the region throughout the year.

The meetings took place at a time whenthe regional economy continued seeing slow growth and uncertainties, while theAPEC business community and people pinned high hope on the forum’scontributions to improving the investment environment and quality of life asthere are only three years away from the deadline for the Bogor Goals, Sonsaid, adding that these meetings were an important occasion for APEC to showits resolve to step up cooperation in dealing with common issues andchallenges.

According to the Deputy Minister, withthe theme of “Creating new dynamism, fostering a shared future”, as many as 60meetings, workshops and dialogues were held with the participation of almost 2,000 delegatesfrom the 21 APEC member economies, regional and international organisations as well as scholars and entrepreneurs both in and outside the country.

As the host of APEC 2017, Vietnamproposed and gained support from the member economies for four majororientations: Continuing the implementation of APEC major, long-termcooperation orientations, particularly specific steps to achieve the BogorGoals on trade and investment liberalisation in theregion by 2020; Agreeing to set up a mechanism to discuss a post-2020 APECVision; Shifting APEC cooperation orientations, not only focusing on trade andinvestment liberalisation but alsoensuring inclusion of trade and growth; APEC should be a leading mechanism interms of cooperation and settlement of practical needs of people.

Son revealed that SOM1 and relatedmeetings reached high consensus on the four priorities proposed by Vietnam forAPEC Year 2017, namely promoting sustainable, innovative and inclusive growth; deepening regional economic integration; strengthening micro-,small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)’ competitiveness and innovation in the digital age; enhancing food security and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change.

At the meetings, Vietnam also raised a numberof major initiatives for 2017 as well as for the long term. Worthy of note isthe initiative to set up a mechanism for future APEC cooperation, including thebuilding of a post-2020 APEC Vision and the acceleration of the Bogor Goals.

The other initiatives cover a range of fieldssuch as promoting inclusion of development in Asia-Pacific, human resources developmentin the digital age, steeping up the supporting industries, transnationale-commerce, sustainable tourism development in the context of climate change,and dialogues on anti-corruption and trade fraud prevention, Son elaborated.

The delegates discussed and concretised thecontents of the priorities, and put forth proposals and new, practicalinitiatives related the concerns of people and businesses in the region.

They also reached consensus and endorsed the work plan for the wholeyear, including SOMs, Ministerial Meetings and the APEC Economic Leaders Weekin Da Nang city in November.

In conclusion, Son said the outcomes of SOM1 indicate thatcooperation, connectivity, and trade and investment liberalisation for adeveloped and prosperous region, remains a mainstream in Asia-Pacific. Themembers will continue discussing major issues at SOM2 in Hanoi in May so thatthe APEC cooperation could bring more practical benefits to people and businesses.-VNA