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APEC Kicks off Serial Meetings With Earlier Conclusion of SOM
APEC SOM Chair Holds News Conference in Shanghai
The first day of a week-long high-level meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ended Monday with the successful conclusion of the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) one day ahead of schedule.
Wang Guangya, China's vice foreign minister and chair of the SOM, told a press conference in the evening that the meeting finished ahead of schedule thanks to the cooperation and support from participants in the consultations and discussions.
As their last gathering of the year, senior officials finished the review of the major achievements and deliverables for the foreign and economics ministers, who would meet on Wednesday and Thursday, and finalized all preparatory work for the ministerial meeting and the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (AELM), according to a press release from the SOM chair's office.
The release says that issues ranging from trade and investment liberalization and facilitation (TILF), economic and technical cooperation (Ecotech), as well as economy and APEC outreach strategy were discussed during the SOM meeting.
APEC SOM Chair Holds News Conference in Shanghai
On TILF, senior officials reaffirmed that the coming ministerial meeting and the AELM will send a clear message in pushing for the early launch of a new round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.
Senior officials also approved the results of the Osaka Action Agenda (OAA) review, the improvement of the Individual Action Plan (IAP) review process and other related initiatives, aiming to sharpen the vision of APEC toward the Bogor Goals under which developed and developing economies would achieve trade and investment liberalization by 2010 and 2020 respectively.
The SOM affirmed the importance for APEC to demonstrate its continued commitment to the Bogor Goals and its ability to respond to the changes in the regional and world economy, embracing particularly the opportunities and challenges of globalization and the new economy, the press release says.
The SOM applauded the efforts by China and relevant parties in developing the "Human Capacity Building Promotion Program" as a follow-up to the "Beijing Initiative" of the High Level Meeting (HLM) on Human Capacity Building held in Beijing earlier this year.
The HLM advocated a tripartite partnership among the governments, educational and academic circles and the business communities to train, free of charge, 1,500 high-level Internet professionals for APEC members in the coming three years on its on- line training platform, promote IT knowledge and establish a Human Capacity Building Forum.
Monday's SOM also consolidated the Ecotech Action Plans (EAPs) submitted by the majority of the APEC member economies, which will be delivered to the leaders and ministers in the upcoming meetings, it notes.
TILF and Ecotech are known as the two wheels of the APEC, with APEC's developed economies stressing importance on the former while the developing economies valuing greatly on the latter.
In building a digital society in the region, the SOM endorsed the e-APEC Strategy, an effort to create an environment for strengthening market structures and institutions, infrastructure and technological development, as well as building human capacity and entrepreneurship. The strategy will be delivered to the ministers and leaders, in response to the rapid development of the new economy.
According to the press release, the forthcoming economic leaders' meeting will also launch a Shanghai Financial Development Program.
Senior APEC officials have agreed on the significance of communications and outreach to the community in achieving free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region, the press release says.
The Communications and Outreach Strategy will also be delivered to the ministers for endorsement "to demonstrate APEC's ongoing effectiveness as a pre-eminent regional economic grouping, and to build and maintain support among APEC's audiences by raising the awareness of the benefit of APEC agendas in the betterment of APEC member economies and their people," the press release says.
All 21 members of the APEC took part in Monday's SOM and three observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretariat, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, and the Pacific Islands Forum were also present.
The first day also featured a series of news briefings.
Zhang Qiyue, spokeswoman of the China Secretariat for APEC 2001, told a briefing that Chinese President Jiang Zemin and U.S. President George W. Bush will exchange views on Sino-U.S. relations and other major issues of common interest during their meeting later this week.
Qin Xiao, chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), said the ABAC called on leaders of APEC members to pay attention to its recommendations and adopt practical and concrete measures for realizing the Bogor Goals.
Qin said the ABAC will deliver four key messages to APEC leaders -- accelerating progress toward trade and investment liberalization as stated in the Bogor Goals, supporting the launch of a new round of WTO negotiations, keeping alert to financial risks and adopting a balanced approach to globalization that combines market opening, capacity building and full participation.
Set up in 1996, the ABAC is the private sector arm of APEC with the objective of giving advice to APEC economic leaders on issues affecting regional business.
The fourth ABAC meeting is scheduled to be held in Shanghai on October 17-21.
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