APEC's CEO Summit 2006 opened at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi on November 17 on the theme of "Towards one community-creating new opportunities for shared developments."

The two-day event draws the participation of more than 1,200 top executives from multinational groups and enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region, including City group, FedEx, Microsoft, Daewoo, HSBC and AIG.

In his opening speech, Mr Triet highlighted APEC’s important role in the world economy, saying the grouping embraces 2.6 billion people and makes up nearly 60 percent of the world production and 50 percent of global trade.  

He said despite the crisis in the late 20th century, the economy of the Asia-Pacific region has recovered to take its previous pace with encouraging results. He attributed the success to the increasing inter-APEC cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, economics and technology, wherein the business community plays a central role.

According to Mr Triet, APEC member economies and the world economy in general are facing numerous challenges, including market fluctuations, especially in oil and material prices, epidemics, natural calamities, social and security instability and the stalemate of the Doha Round of trade negotiations. These challenges, he said, are threatening the multilateral trading system and widening the gap between rich and poor.

“Such challenges require us to increase cooperation and find out appropriate responses, so as to maintain high and sustainable growth,” said Mr Triet.

In this spirit, he said APEC economic leaders are expected to adopt the Hanoi Action Plan to implement the Busan Roadmap towards achieving the Bogor Goals, expedite trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, create the most favourable settings for businesses, strengthen technical cooperation, ensure the people's welfare and business safety, bridge the development gap, especially the digital gap, and reform APEC cooperation mechanism towards improving operational efficiency.

"The forum will raise our voice for the resumption of the Doha Round and promote the multilateral trading mechanism on a global scale," Mr Triet said, adding that it is not only the message from APEC leaders, but also from APEC businesses.

He said APEC leaders have carefully studied recommendations from the APEC Business Advisory Council and are expected to listen to recommendations from CEOs at the summit.

Mr Triet also introduced Vietnam’s great potential for development, including a population of nearly 85 million and an abundant source of hard-working labourers, and called on foreign investors to come and do business in the country. He said thanks to the Doi Moi (Renewal) process initiated in 1986, Vietnam has maintained social and political stability and secured a high economic growth rate while integrating deeper into regional and global economies.  

Vietnam is a lush land: a dynamic, peaceful and open country and finally a potential destination for all of you to do business, said Mr Triet.

In his speech, Dr Vu Tien Loc, President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and chair of APEC's CEO Summit 2006, said the event marks the 10^th anniversary of APEC's CEO summit – an important event for both Vietnam and APEC. He said Vietnam has emerged as one of the most dynamic economies and the most attractive destinations for investors in the world. He further said that Vietnam is the youngest member of the World Trade Organisation and is committed to creating all opportunities for trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation.

Taking the floor, HSBC General Manager Michael Smith said Vietnam’s WTO membership is the international community's acknowledgement of Vietnam. The hosting of APEC 14 shows that Vietnam is holding an important place in the world economy, he said.

Meanwhile, Craig Mundie, Chief Technical Officer and Senior Vice President of Microsoft Group shared Mr Smith’s view and said Vietnam is playing an important role in the WTO’s open and free trade and investment in the world. He expressed his belief that thanks to its high economic growth in recent years, Vietnam’s economy will continue to grow rapidly and strongly.