President Tran Dai Quang addressing the ceremony
The APEC Year 2017, especially the
25th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in the central coastal city of Da Nang in November, has been successful in all aspects,
turning Vietnam
into a center of the global attention, the President said.
The participation of leaders from
APEC member economies along with over 11,000 delegates, businesspeople and
reporters at home and abroad illustrated the special attention of the region
and the world to Vietnam
and APEC in general, he said.
Leaders of APEC member economies
highly appreciated the role of Vietnam
in leading and creating a new momentum for the regional shared future of peace,
stability and prosperity as well as affirmed the role of APEC in global
economic administration.
The President described the success
of the APEC 2017 as a remarkable external achievement of the Vietnamese Party,
people and army, which contributes to increasing the role of APEC as a leading
regional economic cooperation mechanism.
With historical milestones, the APEC
Year 2017 has helped increase the position of Vietnam and affirm the country’s
contributions to forming multilateral mechanisms to realize the common goals of
building an Asia-Pacific region of peace, stability, dynamism, connectivity and
prosperity.
Achievements gained in the APEC Year
2017 are vivid evidence of the victory of free and open trade and multilateral
trade systems, creating a brighter future for the world’s economy.
They also demonstrate the right
external policies of extensive and intensive international integration of the
Party and State, which have been defined at the 12th Congress of the Communist
Party of Vietnam and the Party Central Committee resolutions.
The success of APEC 2017 also laid a
foundation to increase the bilateral relations between Vietnam and partners, proven by
dozens of bilateral talks and meetings, including historical ones.
Vietnam has made active contributions to
the formation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership
(CPTPP), through which promoting regional economic connectivity.
According to Vietnam’s initiative, leaders of
APEC member economies held talks with ASEAN leaders for the first time to
coordinate to build a sustainable, transparent and highly adaptive regional
economic architecture.
All relevant activities took place
safely across localities from the north to the south such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh
City, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Thua Thien-Hue, Khanh Hoa, Can Tho, and
Da Nang, President Quang noted.
He highly valued the Vietnamese
business community for actively engaging in APEC activities, especially the
APEC Business Summit and the Vietnam Business Summit.
The President recognized the whole
country’s efforts to make the APEC Year 2017 a great success.
To promote the achievements gained
in the APEC Year 2017, the President suggested enhancing cooperation in the
fields that Vietnam
has proposed and adopted by APEC member economies, focusing on inclusive
economic, financial and social development, developing human resources in the
digital era, and strengthening food security in response to climate change.
Added to this are developing rural
and urban areas, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, facilitating
cross-border e-commerce and infrastructure improvement, and developing the
support industry and sustainable tourism.
Source: VNA