14th APEC Economic Leaderss Meeting Ends in Flying Colour

Chair of the 14th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (AELM 14) Nguyen Minh Triet declared that the AELM was a success, wrapping up a memorable APEC Economic Leaders' Week 2006 in Ha Noi and the APEC Year 2006 in Viet Nam.

At a press conference at the National Convention Centre in Ha Noi on Nov. 19, Triet said under the theme "Towards a Dynamic Community for Sustainable Development and Prosperity" initiated by Viet Nam, APEC leaders focused discussions on two main topics: advancing trade and investment in a changing world, and fundamentals ensuring dynamism, growth and sustainable development in APEC.

He briefed the press on the main results of the meeting.

Firstly, APEC leaders issued a separate statement on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiation round, affirming a strong political will and especially emphasising practical measures to resume the negotiations as soon as possible. As the host of the 14th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, and the newest member of the World Trade Organisation, Viet Nam had displayed an active role in this issue, which could be seen as its important contribution to the WTO right after joining the body.

Secondly, APEC leaders endorsed the Ha Noi Action Plan to implement the Busan Roadmap towards the Bogor Goals. The leaders highly valued the significance and content of the Ha Noi Action Plan, regarding it as a foundation for APEC economic and trade cooperation in the next 15 years, helping strengthen and perfect APEC's cooperation mechanisms. This was an important initiative of Viet Nam, leaving the country's imprint on APEC's development process.

Thirdly, the leaders adopted recommendations to reform APEC together with concrete measures to make APEC more vibrant, dynamic and effective. This result will be very significant to APEC's future growth.

Fourthly, the leaders committed to continuing to accelerate cooperation to ensure human security in the region. The leaders agreed that terrorism posed a grave threat to peace and security in the world and the region. Therefore, the 14th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting welcomed counter-terrorism initiatives adopted by APEC. They also agreed to strengthen and broaden cooperation in dealing with pandemic, natural disaster, energy changes, and big threats to the lives and well-being of the people in the region.

The leaders also adopted the 18th APEC Ministerial Meeting Statement and the statements of other sectorial ministerial meetings held in Viet Nam in 2006, including the Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade, the Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Avian and Pandemic Influenza, the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting, the APEC Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting, and the APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting.

The meeting endorsed the Ha Noi Declaration of the 14th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, affirming the leaders' unanimity at APEC 2006 outcomes and the orientations for APEC development.

Chair Nguyen Minh Triet also announced two other important activities of the APEC leaders on the sidelines of the 14th AELM. The leaders had a dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and many leaders attended and gave speeches at the CEO Summit.