Foreign and trade ministers of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum met on October 4 in Bali, Indonesia where they are expected to adopt a statement towards the goals of sustainable growth and closer connectivity at the end of the two-day session.

A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu attended the event.

During the meeting, delegates will discuss proposals reached at the APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting on October 1-2 and contents of a working agenda for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on October 7-8, especially those related to Bogor goals and the ninth meeting of the World Trade Organisation ministerial conference slated for this December in Bali.

They will also talk about the APEC’s programme on sustainable growth and fairness covering rural development, poverty reduction, promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises, economic empowerment to women, food and energy security, health care, maritime and technology innovations.

The establishment of a regional anti-corruption working group as well as issues related to the Asia-Pacific connectivity scheme, infrastructure development, post-disaster resilience, trans-border education and tourism cooperation will also come under spotlight.

Adopted in 1994, Bogor goals look to achieve a free trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region by 2010 for industrialised economies and by 2020 for developing economies.

Set up in 1989, APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan (China), Thailand, the US and Vietnam.

Its members account for roughly half of the world's economic output.

VNA