Main Activities of APEC Vietnam 2006

In the APEC Vietnam  2006 , hundreds of small and large meetings, especially SOM I, SOM II, SOM III, ministerial meetings and ABAC meetings take place in Vietnam.

First APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM I): Hanoi from February 20 to March 2, 2006

Under the theme "Towards a Dynamic Community for Sustainable Development and Prosperity," SOM I adopted seven priorities proposed by Vietnam for the APEC to pursue in 2006. The theme is supported by the following sub-themes: Promote APEC cooperation to enhance trade and investment; enhance competitiveness of small and medium enterprises; promote integration capacity through human resources development, IT cooperation, and partnership for development; enhance human security: counter terrorism, health security, emergency preparedness and energy security; promote anti-corruption and transparency; connect APEC economies through tourism and cultural exchange; and reform APEC towards a more dynamic and effective community.

SOM I highlighted determinations of APEC to support the Doha Round negotiations. The meeting also studied the possibility of building Hanoi Action Plan and carrying out the Busan Roadmap. At the same time, SOM I also adopted the new Working Regulation and Working Programme 2006 of the SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE).

Meeting of Ministers with Responsibility for Avian and Pandemic Influenza: Da Nang from May 5-6

This meeting was a Vietnamese initiative to assess the current avian influenza in the APEC economies and carry out activities and cooperative programmes of the region and the world for preventing this pandemic, including the mobilisation and allocation of US$1.9 billion pledged by the Ministerial Meeting in Beijing previously.

The ministers endorsed the "APEC Action Plan on the Prevention and Response to Avian and Pandemic Influenza" with focus on five fields, namely multi-sectoral cooperation and coordination on avian and pandemic influenza; establishing best practices and common approaches to risk communications; mitigating negative effects of avian influenza on agriculture and trade; working with the private sector to help ensure continuity of business, trade and essential services; and strengthening regional and international cooperation. The total expenditure proposed for the restructuring of husbandry through this programme was some US$225 million.

Second APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM II): HCM City from May 22-31, 2006

The SOM II meeting was aimed to solidify the agreement contents of the SOM I meeting and prepare contents for the APEC MRT (Ministers Responsible for Trade) meeting. SOM II also gave instructions for the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) on model consulting articles for the development of agreements for Regional Trade Area/Free Trade Area (RTA/FTA). At the same time, through the working programme for 2006 of the SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE), the focal content of the meeting is to raise capacity to implement the Busan Roadmap and sustainable development to fill the development gap of the member economies.

Another important content of the meeting is the ratification of the Philippines' Initiative on APEC Counter-Terrorism Guidebook and Australia's Initiative to conduct anti-terrorism financing workshops and the US's suggestion on food security.

Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade: HCM City from June 1-2, 2006

The functions of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) meeting were to give mid-term orientations on undergoing APEC activities for workgroups and forums to complete and submit to the Joint Ministerial Meeting and APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. The meeting also adopted the action programme framework in order to implement the Busan Roadmap and this will be submitted to the upcoming the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. The ministers agreed to turn political determinations into actions to obtain benefits in three major fields of farm produce market approaching, non-farm produce and services. At the same time, the meeting also discussed trade liberalisation and emphasised the role of investment in APEC and investment environment improvement. 

The ministers also reaffirmed commitments of member economies about the building of a multilateral trade system and the completion of Doha Round negotiations by the end of 2006. In the field of agriculture, the ministers pledged to cut domestic State subsidies. In the field of export competition, the ministers agreed to eliminate all subsidies by 2013.

Three APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Meetings

The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) organised three meeting sessions since the beginning of 2006 and the last meeting was closed in Cebu, the Philippines from August 11-16, 2006. Five working groups of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) focused on discussing and concluding 12 important points to   submit to APEC Economic Leaders  in the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

During the ABAC meetings, the main discussions included: Calling APEC economic leaders to endorse to conclude the Doha negotiations of the WTO; promoting High-Quality Regional Trade Agreements and Free Trade Agreements; implementing the Busan Business Agenda; consolidating a favourable and stable environment for trade and investment; enhancing preparedness for energy emergency; consolidating financial system; and assisting the development of small and medium enterprises and promoting preparedness for avian and epidemic prevention.

ABAC also hosted a meeting to commemorate its 10th birthday on August 12-13 with the main theme of "APEC Means Business."

APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting - FMM13: Hanoi from September 7-8

Based on the reports delivered by representatives of international financial institutions, the Finance Ministers reviewed and discussed the current economic and financial conditions of the region and some major economies, hence obtaining a great consensus on the policy actions and cooperation arrangements to cope with the challenges and risks associated to global imbalance, to mitigate the negative impacts of increasing oil price, natural disasters and epidemics, and to respond to changing global climate in the coming future.

Also at FMM 13, the APEC Finance Ministers released the Joint Declaration, which proposed the resumption of Doha negotiations. The meeting adopted the initiative "Hanoi Medium-term Agenda" proposed by Vietnam. The programme related to macroeconomic, financial matters and revenue management. The programme also put forward priority fields and action plans for the next 3-5 years.

Third Senior Officials Meeting SOM III: Danang City and Hoi An Town September 4-17

The meeting fundamentally adopted the draft Hanoi Action Plan to implement the Busan Roadmap to achieve the Bogor Goals proposed by Vietnam. The SOM III 14 drafts of model consulting articles for the development of agreements for Regional Trade Area/Free Trade Area (RTA/FTA) among APEC member economies. The SOM III passed the Programme for Trade and Investment Liberalization and Facilitation in order to reduce 5 per cent of transaction fees in the 2006-2010 period (the trade facilitation is one of three cooperation backbones of APEC.)

At this meeting, Vietnam put forth three directions for APEC reform, namely enhancement of "APEC's operational efficiency, alliance and flexibility". APEC member economies agreed on five main results: enhancing resources and consolidating operation of APEC Secretariat; innovating operational orientations for SOM mechanism; improving efficiency and linkage of APEC activities; building focus-oriented agendas, enhancing cooperation between the SOM processes with the processes of Finance Ministers and the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), boosting cooperation between APEC and beneficiaries like ASEAN, international organisations and regional research institutions.

13th APEC SME Ministerial Meeting: Hanoi from September 28-29

During the meeting, the ministers discussed and adopted the content of the Hanoi Declaration on enhancing SMEs' competitiveness in trade and investment and adopted the Joint Ministerial Declaration. Main emphasised methods included financial assistance, human resource training, technical support and legal framework formation.
The ministers recognised the importance of assistance for SMEs and micro enterprises that have potential but lack export channels. At the same time, the participants reviewed the initiatives to organise virtual trade promotion programmes and trade fairs as an effective method to develop e-commerce and global trade and to enhance capacity of SMEs and micro enterprises to enable them to seek business opportunities abroad. The cooperative theme of the APEC 2007 SMEs is "Improving business environment for small and medium enterprises."

4th APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting: Hoi An from October 16-18

The APEC Tourism Ministers released the Hoi An Declaration on Tourism expected encourage investment and create air linkages between cultural heritage sites in APEC member economies. The declaration is regarded as a historical document to further solidify the APEC Tourism Charter. The APEC Tourism Ministers acknowledged the initiatives of Vietnam such as "APEC Tourism Trade Fair" and "APEC Tourism Investment Forum" on the fringe of the APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting. The participants encouraged the opening of tourism routes/air routes to link cultural heritage sites in APEC member economies and the enhancement of friendship exchange activities between sister cities. The APEC Secretariat officially adopted these initiatives.

At the TMM 4, the ministers also discussed "Independent Assessment Report on Tourism Charter" prepared by APEC Tourism Workgroup. This report generally evaluated results, effects and conformity of projects which have been carried out within the APEC tourism cooperation framework.

APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting Week: Hanoi from November 12-19
 
Nearly 10,000 participants of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting Week include leaders, businesses and reporters from 21 APEC member economies and other countries around the world. Notable attendants include Chinese President Hu Jintao, US President George W. Bush, Russian President V. Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The APEC CEO Summit alone had a participation of 800 leading regional businesses together with more than 200 countries registering for the summit, including more than 200 US companies and more than 100 Japanese companies.

• Nguyen Thoa