Speakers at the APEC dialogue on December 8 (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – An Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)dialogue with businesses was held in Hanoi on late December 8 under the theme“Creating new dynamism for growth and integration”.
The dialogue, an initiative of Vietnam as thehost of APEC activities in 2017, drew about 400 delegates from internationaland regional organisations, commerce chambers, associations and businesses fromAPEC economies.
Alan Bollard – Executive Director of the APECSecretariat and Antonio Basilio – Director of the APEC Business AdvisoryCouncil’s International Secretariat were among keynote speakers.
Opening the dialogue, Deputy Foreign MinisterBui Thanh Son, Chairman of the 2017 APEC Senior Officials’ Meetings, saidVietnam wants to turn APEC into a forum for the sake of people and businesses.Diverse activities involving enterprises will take place throughout 2017.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Hanoi People’sCommittee Nguyen Duc Chung highlighted the Vietnamese capital city’s reform andintegration efforts and reiterated commitments to revamping local businessclimate change towards a big hub in Asia-Pacific.
He highly valued the APEC dialogue’s cooperationfocus on business facilitation, trade liberalisation, and technical economicinvestment and cooperation, adding that Hanoi expects APEC 2017 willeffectively implement the prioritised orientations on sustainable and inclusivegrowth, creativity, and regional economic connectivity to improve small andmedium enterprises’ competitiveness, and ensure food security and sustainableagriculture.
He stated that Hanoi welcomes and will alwayscreate a favourable environment for businesses’ cooperation for mutualdevelopment. It hopes more and more APEC partners will consider this city as atrustworthy destination for cooperation and investment.
At the dialogue, entrepreneurs appreciatedAPEC’s efforts to promote trade and investment liberalisation and build an openand transparent business and investment environment. They also voiced theirwish to join in and practically contribute to APEC’s cooperation in 2017.-VNA
VNA
