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APEC Makes Remarkable Achievements: Minister
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said here Wednesday that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has made momentous progress over the last decade.
"The past decade is one of rapid expansion of regional cooperation and remarkable achievements of the APEC," said Tang, also co-chair of the 13th APEC Ministerial Meeting, which opened here Wednesday morning.
Speaking at the two-day meeting, Tang said the APEC has set up Bogor goals of achieving trade and investment liberalization by 2010 for developed members and by 2020 for developing ones.
It has created a unique approach featuring a combination of individual and collective actions while promoting the development of a multilateral trading regime and carrying out various forms of economic and technical cooperation, Tang said.
"The APEC has become one of the most important economic forums in the region and even in the world," Tang said, adding that it has provided rare opportunities for dialogue and exchange of views by leaders of member economies and for discussions on frontier issues related to the global and regional economy.
Tang said the APEC has played a guiding role in the formulation of policy frameworks on many issues as well.
"Therefore, the APEC has made positive contribution to maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific Region and enhancing its economic prosperity and development," Tang said.
Tang attributed the APEC success not only to the common aspiration of all its members for a sustainable economic growth through cooperation but also to the APEC approach of voluntarism, consensus-building, flexibility, and gradualism.
"A more important factor for its success is that it has stood at the forefront and advanced with the times in response to the latest development in the global and regional economy," Tang added.
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