APEC SOM III Continues in DalianThe Third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM III) of the 13th Ministerial Meeting of the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) entered into its second day Friday in Dalian, coastal city of northeast China's Liaoning Province.Senior officials from 21 APEC member economies continued their discussion on human capacity building, advancing trade and investment and promoting sustained development in the Asia-Pacific region, in preparation for the 9th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and 13th Ministerial Meeting, scheduled in Shanghai in October. The SOM III, last SOM formal meeting before the leaders' meeting and the ministerial meeting, was presided over by Wang Guangya, Chinese vice-foreign minister and SOM chair. When the meeting opened Thursday, Wang called for flexibility, realism and pragmatism on all sides in the final stage of preparation for the leaders' meeting. On Wednesday, senior officials held a retreat to exchange views on a number of issues, such as results of this year's meetings and proposals submitted by some member economies. From August 16 to 21, various committees and forums convened to discuss specific work of APEC in their respective fields at the SOM related meetings. |
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