State President begins US trip, attends APEC summit
VOV.VN - Vietnamese State President Vo Van Thuong left Hanoi on November 14 for San Francisco, beginning a business trip to the United States where he will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Week at the invitation of US President Joe Biden.
Themed ‘Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All’, APEC leaders will review the implementation of the Aotearoa Plan of Action on the APEC Vision to 2040, with a primary focus on trade and investment; innovation; sustainable and inclusive growth.
They will continue to attach importance to APEC, affirming its role as the leading regional forum and an important mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region to promote multilateral efforts in stepping up economic recovery and preparing for sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth.
Vietnam joined APEC in 1998 and it has so far played host to APEC Summits twice, in 2006 and 2017. Over the past 25 years, it has actively participated and contributed effectively to the development of the forum in all areas of cooperation.
Vietnam is one of the most active APEC members, proposing initiatives and more than 150 projects in various fields.
In 2006, Vietnam left a strong imprint with the Hanoi Action Plan to realise the Bogor targets in trade and investment facilitation. For the first time, APEC member economies agreed on the idea of forming a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific region and overall orientations on APEC reform.
In 2017, Vietnam proposed the initiative of building post-2020 APEC vision and the establishment of the APEC Vision Group, reflecting the country’s long-term and overall approach. The initiative received support and high appreciation from members, laying the foundation for the forum to adopt the joint statement on Putrajaya Vision 2040 which defines orientations, strategic goals and priorities of APEC cooperation in the new period.
President Vo Van Thuong’s participation in this APEC Leaders’ Week comes hot on the heels of the recent establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and the US. Both countries are active members of APEC, and they have maintained regular bilateral dialogue mechanisms on political security-defense, and human rights.
At this forum, Vietnam has been actively supporting and coordinating closely with the US, other APEC and ASEAN members in APEC to promote the forum’s free and open trade and investment principles, regional cooperation and economic integration, as well as efforts to respond to epidemics, economic recovery and sustainable growth in the long term, to ensure the success of the APEC Year 2023 and enhance the role of ASEAN.
