As most important event for the Asia-Pacific business community held annually during the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week, the summit attracted many leaders of APEC economies as well as more than 2,000 leading businesses in the region and Vietnam.

It also saw the presence of leaders from the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Asian Investment Bank (AIIB). In his closing remarks, President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the APEC CEO Summit 2017, said the summit was a success with a wide range of inspiring dialogues on the future of APEC.

“We all agree that globalisation, integration and free trade are the most important means for sustainable and inclusive economic development and poverty reduction. We have to do our best to achieve these goals,” he said.

According to him, globalisation and free trade should be considered carefully to help APEC economies attain economic inclusion, with the most important being the development of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises and high-quality human resources.

After the closing ceremony, Loc officially transferred the Chairmanship of APEC CEO Summit to Papua New Guinea, host of APEC 2018.

On the occasion, Papua New Guinea’s Minister in charge of APEC Justin Tkatchenko invited CEOs to the Summit 2018 in his economy.

The APEC Economic Leaders’ Week from November 6-11 is drawing around 10,000 delegates from the 21 APEC member economies.

Established in 1989, APEC comprises 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, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.

It represents 39 percent of the world population, 57 percent of the world GDP and 47 percent of the total trade.

Source: vietnamplus.vn