APEC Meetings Agree to Boost Trade Liberalization

THE SECOND SENIOR OFFICIALS' MEETING(SOM 2) and related meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) concluded in Hanoi, Vietnam, on May 18. The meetings agreed to accelerate the completion of Bogor goals on investment and trade liberalization by 2020.

All 21 APEC members strongly support the necessity of maintaining APEC's roles as the driving force of economic connectivity and growth in the region and as the incubator of cooperative ideas and regional linkages for common prosperity in the Asia-Pacific, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said at a press conference right after the SOM 2's conclusion.

The delegates agreed that realizing Bogor goals should be connected with creating fair opportunities for all people and enterprises to participate in and benefit from achievements of regional economic connectivity and growth, he said.

Attendees at the APEC meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam on May 18.

The SOM 2 also welcomed the High-level Police Dialogue on Human Resource Development in the Digital Age, which approved a framework for human resource development in the digital age.

New content being widely discussed and supported at the SOM 2 is a proposal on promoting inclusive development in economic, financial and social fields.