SOM I of APEC Vietnam 2006 Opens

 

The APEC year with the theme of "Towards a Dynamic Community for Sustainable Development and Prosperity" includes four topics that will be discussed at SOM I, SOM II and SOM III such as strengthening trade and investment through the implementation of Busan roadmap and the enhancement of Doha round, strengthening economic and technical cooperation for narrowing gaps and sustainable development, speeding up a safe and favourable business environment, and community connectivity. Apart from meetings of working groups, SOM I also has 28 conferences in the fields of e-commerce, customs, structural reform, anti-corruption, and others.

 

One of conferences on the sidelines of SOM I that gathers special attention is “APEC on protecting private information in e-Government and e-commerce” hosted by the Ministry of Trade and Vietnam Science and Technology Institute with the participation of nearly 100 delegates, including legal and IT experts, policy makers, governmental officials, and representatives of multinational groups such as Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, Warner Bros, Online, Hunton & Williams. According to Trade Deputy Minister Le Danh Vinh, the conference focused on discussing and sharing experience in implementing the framework regulation on the privacy of individual information among APEC countries.

 

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affair Le Cong Phung, APEC Head of Secretariat and President of APEC’s SOM, stressed that Vietnam’s host of APEC 2006 is the most important and practical contribution to APEC cooperation progress. Together with ensuring APEC common regulations and practices, Vietnam will try to create a specific impression in organizing APEC 2006 in order to advertise the image of Vietnam which is dynamic, open-hearted, safe and integrated, and enhances investment attraction, speeds up trade and develops tourism. Besides, APEC is a forum for Vietnam to boost bilateral cooperation relations with APEC members.