APEC Senior Officials Meeting OpensThe meeting, presided over by Chinese vice-foreign minister and Chairman of SOM I, Wang Guangya, is attended by senior officials from the 21 APEC member economies. Wang, in his opening speech, spoke highly of the achievements made by the organization in promoting the liberalization of trade and investment and economic and technical cooperation. He stressed that members of the organization should further strengthen the multilateral trading system so as to create a more favorable macro environment for the sustainable economic development in the region and face up to the challenges of globalization and the new economy. According to the organizing committee, participants will outline the whole work of the organization this year and prepare for the informal leadership meeting, which is scheduled for Shanghai in October. They will also discuss the regional economic situation, globalization and the new economy, as well as joint efforts to promote economic and technological cooperation, capacity building, and human resources development. APEC, established in 1989, has become the most important economic cooperation forum in the region. "Meeting New Challenges in the New Century, Achieving Common Prosperity through Participation and Cooperation" is the theme of this year's APEC work. The three topics of this year's APEC meetings are to strengthen capacity building and open new opportunities for future development so that all members will benefit from globalization and the development of IT technologies, to promote trade and investment and facilitate the establishment of a more reasonable multilateral trading system, and to create a favorable macro environment for the sustainable economic development of the Asia-Pacific region. The second Senior Officials Meeting is slated for May 26-June 3 in Shenzhen, a booming coastal city in south China. |
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