After a hardworking week, the 2006 APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation) forum summit closed in the afternoon of November 19, 2006. “Vietnam sealed a fine impression among international guests with its friendliness and hospitality,” said President Nguyen Minh Triet when starting a press conference after the end of the APEC Leaders’ Week.
Thanks to good co-operation among ministries, agencies and Hanoi, as well as many other provinces and cities, the ever biggest international conference in Vietnam ended in a great success. During the conference, Vietnam received five top level delegations led by Chinese Party General Secretary and President Hu Jintao, US President George W Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.
A comprehensive success
Via the hosting the APEC 2006, Vietnam proved it a safe destination for co-operation and investment. “Contracts signed within the APEC 2006 are very important. More importantly, however, Vietnam should make further efforts to convince investors that Vietnam as a destination for future co-operation and investment,” Triet stressed.
In his speech, Triet stated 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, Vietnam had displayed an active role in this issue.
Vietnam had worked out the theme for the 2006 APEC year and for the future, which had been highly appreciated by APEC economies. In the final session on November 18, 2006, APEC leaders endorsed the Hanoi Action Plan to implement the Busan Roadmap towards the Bogor Goals, considering it a foundation for APEC economic and trade cooperation in the next 15 years, helping strengthen and perfect APEC's co-operation mechanisms. This was an important initiative of Vietnam, leaving the country's imprint on APEC's development process, said Triet. “When talking about trade and economic co-operation of APEC in the coming time, people will talk of Hanoi and Vietnam,” he went on.
The Vietnamese president stressed the role played by Vietnam during the reform of APEC. Le Cong Phung, deputy minister of foreign affairs, said APEC reform requirements had not been implemented until 2006, when Vietnam worked out a reform approach for APEC, making APEC more vibrant, dynamic and effective.
Apart from the content, Phung emphasised the success of the 14th APEC Vietnam in terms of security, reception and promotion. All the Vietnamese people had supported the Government’s determination to successfully host summit. Phung said there were no complains from the people about traffic ban for APEC delegation’s travel and no traffic and social incidents. There were no major mistakes in the reception of foreign delegations. Vietnam received a total of 9,000 foreign guests on the occasion, including 1,500 reporters, who spoke highly of the organisation of the host country. The press centre operated day and night with conditions as good as many other countries in the world.
Good promotion opportunities
“Vietnam has become a well-known country, highly spoken of by other countries for its bravery and heroism during the struggle for national salvation. In terms of national construction, the international community has known about Vietnam’s renovation process but they have not evaluated fully its success”, said Triet at the press conference.
In their speeches, APEC leaders expressed their admiration at Vietnam’s rapid socio-economic development in recent time as well as their deep impressions on the beauty of Hanoi, the hospitability and friendliness of the Vietnamese people reflected through the traditional dress, food and unique cultural identity.
On these days, world media was full of images of Hanoi and Vietnam. Via the APEC 2006, leaders, entrepreneurs, and people of foreign countries had an opportunity to witness a dynamic and safe Vietnam. People around the world could see Australian Prime Minister John Howard running around Hoan Kiem Lake in the morning and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet walking around shops in Hanoi’s old quarter.
Even US President G. Bush said before going to Vietnam, he had worried about how he would be treated because of severe consequences of the war. However, he said he had been surprised by friendliness of Vietnamese people, saying that Vietnamese people were even more friendly the American people. Bush stressed that Vietnam was like a young tiger and if he had been young, he would have gone to Vietnam for investment and doing business.
“Even though Vietnam had successfully hosted the APEC 2006 and promoted its image to the world public things are not over yet. We should work more to settle our shortcomings and weaknesses, promoting the image of Vietnam, making it brighter and more brilliant,” concluded Triet.
Followings are excerpts from speeches of several leaders of APEC countries
China President Hu Jintao
China calls for building of a harmonious world of enduring peace and common prosperity. China will work with other countries for harmonious coexistence in the political field, common development in the economic field, mutual enriching in the cultural field and mutual trust and coordination in the security field. By doing so, we will continue to contribute to the noble cause of peace and development of mankind
Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
We witnessed and experienced a series of events that severely awakened our sense of economic insecurity: the financial crisis, terrorists attacks, dangerous infectious diseases such as SARS, the avian flu and natural disasters such as tsunami, earthquakes, forest fires.
They reminded us no country can cope with these threats alone, simply for the fact that they have trans-boundary characteristics. It is therefore very much to APEC’s credit that economic security threats are now very much central to APEC Leaders’ Agendas. In fact all these challenges have drawn us together and contributed to a stronger sense of just what an APEC community means.
Thailand PM Surayud ChulanontAs part of ASEAN, we are forging ever closer links not only within the region, but also with economic powerhouses such as India, China and Japan. ASEAN plans to become a free trade area by the year 2010 and an ASEAN Community by 2020 or even earlier. At the ASEAN Summit in Cebu, the Philippines, next month, the region’s leaders will discuss how to expedite this process further.
New Zealand PM Hon Helen Clark:
Climate change is an issue we believe needs to come onto APEC’s agenda rapidly. The dire economic effects of unchecked climate change should be address by APEC because of the organization’s primary concern for growth and the development. Without a commitment to sustainability, we will likely get neither in the future.
Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong
Globalisation is not without its downsides. But on balance it is still the best way forward to create growth and wealth, and foster trade and interdependence. So when governments get together in multilateral groupings such as APEC, our key responsibility is to sustain the cross-border flows of trade and investment, and harness the full benefits of globalisation while containing its risks. This is the key to unleashing the growth and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Let me just say one more thing about the idea of a community in the Asia-Pacific. I still find it remarkable that I, an American Secretary of State, am standing here in Hanoi, barely three decades after the tragic war between our countries, yet our conversation today is not about conflict, but about community. How is this possible? The answer is simple: Twenty years ago, the leaders of Vietnam took a hard look at their isolated economy, and they made the strategic choice to begin reforms. The case of Vietnam is instructive- for it shows how the past is being overcome to the benefit of both countries.
Vietnamese
