The 13th APEC Ministerial Meeting Opens in Shanghai

APEC Ministerial Meeting Opens in Shanghai

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The 13th Ministerial Meeting (AMM) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has opened on 17 October in the Shanghai International Convention Center (ICC). Ministers and representatives from all the 21 APEC member economies have attended the meeting. Representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat, Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) have been present at the meeting in the capacity of observers. Co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Tang Jiaxuan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and H.E. Mr. Shi Guangsheng, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, the current AMM will mainly make preparations for the upcoming 9th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (AELM). Under the theme of "Meeting New Challenges in the New Century: Achieving Common Prosperity through Participation and Cooperation", the AMM is expected to focus its discussions on the following topics, namely as: Advancing Trade and Investment, Sharing the Benefits of Globalization and the New Economy in the Asia-Pacific region and Promoting a Sustainable Economic Growth of the region.

Since the beginning of this year, new developments and trends have been witnessed in the development of the world and regional macroeconomic situation, globalization, the New Economy and multilateral trading system. The economic growth of the world and the Asia-Pacific has, on the whole, slowed down. The impact of the terrorist attacks on 11 September on the economy has become visible. In bringing about unprecedented opportunities, economic globalization also has come along with negative effects, to which adequate attention has been paid. While the world is focusing its attention on whether or not the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Meeting in Doha this November should be able to launch a new round of negotiations, the development of regional free trade arrangements is flourishing. As a result, the holding of the AMM and AELM in Shanghai at this important juncture has attracted even more attention. All APEC parties have expected that the meeting will do its part as they are addressing as a whole new economic challenge in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world, inject a new vigor into the second 10-year development of APEC and map out a blueprint for its future advancement.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the AMM, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, on behalf of the Chinese government, has expressed a warm welcome to ministers from the 21 APEC member economies, who have gathered in Shanghai. Foreign Minister Tang has said that in the past decade, APEC has set up Bogor goals of achieving trade and investment liberalization by 2010 for developed members and by 2020 for developing ones; created a unique approach featuring a combination of individual and collective actions; vigorously promoted the development of a multilateral trading regime and carried out various forms of economic and technical cooperation. APEC has become one of the most important economic forums in the Asia-Pacific region and even in the world. Currently, how to promote growth and restore confidence in the market is an issue on the top of our agenda. How to enable people from all sectors in the Asia-Pacific region to benefit from economic globalization and the New Economy without widening the development gaps between them is also a challenge we must take up. In addition, how to give full play to the unique role of APEC and deepen cooperation is also a major task for the current AMM. Foreign Minister Tang has expressed the belief that through close collaboration, the AMM, held in the spirit of dealing with concrete matters relating to work, flexibility as well as cooperation, is set to produce rich deliverables to be submitted to this year's AELM.

The AMM is an important part of the decision-making mechanism of APEC, usually held prior to the annual AELM. The current AMM is scheduled to be held in two days, after which the Joint Ministerial Statement will be issued.