Vietnam and APEC act for a resilient and sustainable future

The working trip of President Vo Van Thuong, his wife and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation affirmed that Vietnam will continue to proactively and actively participate and contribute to common work, together with the international community to create a self-reliant and sustainable future.

The President arrived in San Francisco, USA, to begin attending the APEC 2023 Summit Week.

At around 9:00 a.m. on November 14 (local time, or around 0:00 a.m. on November 15, Vietnam time), after more than 12 hours of flight, the plane carrying President Vo Van Thuong and his wife and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation landed at San Francisco International Airport, California (USA), starting a working trip to attend the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit Week, combined with bilateral activities.

This is President Vo Van Thuong's first trip to the United States in his new position, taking place from November 14-17 at the invitation of President Joe Biden.

Contribute positively, proactively, responsibly and effectively

The host city of this year’s Forum is San Francisco – where the Covid-19 pandemic swept through, devastating the local economy’s main drivers, tourism and technology; but it has made efforts to renovate, change its appearance, and welcome distinguished guests, with the expectation of a “new breeze”, lighting up dreams.

In mid-November, President Vo Van Thuong, leaders of APEC member economies and thousands of delegates came to San Francisco to sit down with the US host to discuss maintaining sustainable supply chains, digital transformation, digital trade, energy transition, combating climate change, green economy... - issues that the whole world is very concerned about, in order to "Create a self-reliant and sustainable future for everyone".

President Vo Van Thuong delivers a speech at the APEC CEO Summit 2023 with the theme 'Sustainable and Inclusive Development'.

The forum is even more meaningful when it takes place at the place where, as President Vo Van Thuong emphasized in his speech at the US Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), countries signed the Charter establishing the United Nations on the ashes of World War II - "a historic event expressing the legitimate aspirations of peoples for peace and development".

Located on the Pacific coast, San Francisco has become an economic and cultural “bridge” connecting the United States and Asia, with one-third of the population being Asian Americans. San Francisco has diverse and deep connections to APEC.

San Francisco not only has a large gross domestic product (about 500 billion USD), is the fourth largest economic region in the United States, but is also a major economic center of the Asia-Pacific region. It is estimated that two-way trade between this city and APEC economies can reach 100 billion USD annually.

In particular, San Francisco Bay is the destination, headquarters of the world's leading technology companies and corporations and the "cradle" of the global creative and pioneering industry.

Right in a special place like San Francisco, through the first discussion sessions, the finance, foreign affairs and economic ministers agreed to adopt recommendations on APEC structural reform; called on members to accelerate the implementation of APEC commitments, especially the Food Security Roadmap to 2030, the Roadmap on the Digital Economy/Internet Economy, the Disaster Risk Reduction Framework and Action Plan, the Roadmap against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing; and the Roadmap on Women and Inclusive Growth...

Through the first sessions, Vietnam's contributions to measures towards APEC's important goals of sustainable and inclusive growth and building a resilient and connected region were shared and highly appreciated by APEC members and reflected in the documents and Statements of the Conference. For example, the speech of Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son at the 34th APEC Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM 34) emphasized the need to enhance the competitiveness and resilience of economies, respond to the challenges of climate change and growth decline, with three priorities in APEC cooperation, including strengthening cooperation in responding to climate change and promoting green growth, taking advantage of advances in science and technology to serve sustainable and inclusive growth and putting people at the center of APEC cooperation.

President Vo Van Thuong speaks and discusses policies at the US Council on Foreign Relations, November 15.

Model in international relations

President Vo Van Thuong's working trip is even more meaningful as it takes place in the context of Vietnam-US relations marking an important milestone. The two countries have established a framework for a comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development, during President Joe Biden's state visit to Vietnam, at the invitation of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in September 2023.

In his speech at the CFR, President Vo Van Thuong affirmed that “the relationship between Vietnam and the United States has never been as good as it is today” and “is truly a model in the history of international relations in healing and building post-war relations. This result is due to the joint efforts of many generations of leaders and people of the two countries to overcome historical challenges and ups and downs.”

Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States Nguyen Quoc Dung said that "President Vo Van Thuong's participation in this year's APEC Forum demonstrates Vietnam's support for multilateralism in general, as well as for the APEC process in particular, and is also an opportunity for Vietnam to promote bilateral relations with the United States after the two sides upgraded their relations."

The bilateral meetings between President Vo Van Thuong and senior leaders, partners, scholars and businesses of the United States, especially in California, will be concrete actions to implement the Joint Statement on establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership; consolidate and enhance political trust, promote increasingly deep and substantive development of relations, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two countries, especially in the fields of education and training, science and technology, innovation and local connectivity.

The President “believes in the bright prospects of the Vietnam-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, because it suits the interests of the people of the two countries and contributes better to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.”

In addition, the President's bilateral meetings with leaders of APEC economies, countries and international organizations attending the APEC 2023 Summit Week will contribute to strengthening peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world; as well as promoting cooperation between Vietnam and other countries and partners to continue to go into depth and effectiveness, thereby promoting the image of the country, people as well as the socio-economic development achievements of Vietnam to international friends.

President Vo Van Thuong speaks at the Vietnam-US Business and Locality Connection Seminar.

We want tomorrow to be better than today.

The APEC 2023 Summit Week is of great significance, marking 25 years of Vietnam's participation in APEC (1998-2023). Vietnam continues to identify the Asia-Pacific region and the APEC Forum as important priorities in its foreign policy, in its policy of promoting and elevating multilateral diplomacy, contributing to protecting and promoting security and development interests and enhancing the country's international position.

Looking back over the past 25 years, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Hang assessed that we can affirm that the decision to join APEC in 1998 was a strategic decision in the country's international economic integration, laying the foundation for global integration and contributing to the development of Vietnam as well as the region.

Indeed, in a quarter of a century of participating in the APEC process, Vietnam has made active, responsible and effective contributions to all areas of cooperation, leaving many important marks. Up to now, Vietnam continues to commit to working with other members to promote the spirit of dialogue, constructiveness, responsibility, uphold multilateralism, and work together and act together for the sustainable development and prosperity of the region.

With the aspirations and goals of attending the APEC Forum, the Vietnamese leader shares the views of Ms. Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative, speaking at an event to open APEC Week 2023 that, “We may not look the same, we may speak different languages ​​and have different educations, but we have more in common than we think. We all want peace. We all want the best for our loved ones. And we want a better tomorrow than today.”

This is also the emphasis in the speech of President Vo Van Thuong at CFR, “Vietnam always wishes for peace, cooperation and development in a world where countries build visions together, cooperate together, share responsibilities, for the benefit of the people and the international community”.

Within the framework of the program, on November 17, President Vo Van Thuong and leaders of APEC member economies discussed issues of key significance to the world and regional economies; proposed cooperation orientations in trade, investment, science and technology, innovation and many other important fields.

Delivering the keynote speech at the APEC Business Summit (November 15) gathering more than 2,000 leaders of the world's leading corporations and APEC, the President conveyed a message to the business community to join hands to contribute, overcome challenges, and take advantage of opportunities to promote sustainable development of the region and each economy, including Vietnam.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/viet-nam-cung-apec-hanh-dong-vi-tuong-lai-tu-cuong-va-ben-vung-250259.html