Every year, leaders from the 21 APEC member economies sit together to discuss issues, which have great influence on the future of not only APEC but also the world at large. This year, besides traditional topics such as trade liberalisation, Doha round of talks, anti-terrorism, and prevention of natural disasters and epidemics, the host country, Australia, proposed climate change, energy security and clean development as the main topics of the summit. These are sensitive issues as several APEC member economies such as the US and China produce the largest amount of greenhouse gas, but are not ready to sign the Kyoto Protocol. However, APEC leaders reached a common voice by releasing the Sydney Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development with specific objectives and plans of action. This success bore the stamp of the host country.

Another breakthrough of the summit was that APEC leaders adopted a separate joint statement on the Doha round of talks, which has been at a deadlock due to agricultural subsidies of developed countries. This time, they showed their resolve to conclude the round by the end of this year.

The success of the forum was attributed to the significant contributions by Australia and other member economies, including Vietnam. To further develop its role and prestige after successfully organising the 14th APEC summit, Vietnamese State President Nguyen Minh Triet joined all sessions of the 15th APEC summit and made important contributions to the success of the forum. While APEC member economies have different opinions on the climate change issues, Vietnam’s strong and persuasive voice partly helped the leaders break the deadlock, resulting in the Sydney Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development.

During the 14^th APEC summit in Hanoi, APEC economic leaders adopted the Hanoi Action Plan to implement the Busan Roadmap towards the Bogor Goals, serving as the prerequisite for the grouping to promote economic and trade cooperation activities in the next 15 years. This was Vietnam’s important initiative in the APEC development process. In Australia, Vietnam’s initiative was cemented by the Regional Economic Integration Report, which puts forth nine groups of recommendations to boost economic, trade and investment ties among member economies. The report is of great importance as it outlines objectives and orientations for economic cooperation in the Asia and Pacific region in the immediate and long-term periods.