First published by Ohmynews on 2006-11-19 11:18 (KST)
Leaders issued a join statement on reviving the Doha round of talks
The APEC economic leaders' meeting, the most important event in Vietnam this year, started Saturday with a closed session among heads of delegations from 21 member economies.
Vietnamese president Nguyen Minh Triet stood at the great hall of the National Conference Center in Hanoi to welcome important guests. Australian Prime Minister John Howard was the first to arrive, U.S. President George W. Bush the last. At 2 p.m., the closed meeting began, chaired by Triet.
The leaders of 21 APEC economies discussed important issues related to the cooperation and development within the region. High on the agenda were the promotion of the Doha round of talks, the promotion of high-quality regional trade arrangements and free trade agreements, the Hanoi Action Plan to implement the Busan Roadmap and measures to promote Bogor objectives.
Finishing the meeting, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders signed a separate join statement on the Doha round of talks in which they expressed strong political determination as well as put forth some necessary measures to restart the talks at the earliest opportunity.
The leaders also approved the Hanoi Action Plan, which is considered to be the blueprint for economic and trade cooperation among APEC countries for the next 15 years, contributing to the promotion and improvement of cooperation mechanisms among APEC economies.
After the closed session, APEC leaders had a one-hour dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council during which the proposal for facilitating and liberating trade and investment was raised.
The APEC economic leaders' meeting is the most important event in APEC leader week in Vietnam.
The Biggest Ever Event for Vietnam
With seven important conferences as well as five official visits from the presidents and prime ministers of the U.S., Russia, Chile, China and Japan, it's safe to say that hosting the APEC summit is the most important event in 2006 for Vietnam.
If you come to Hanoi these days, you will see that the whole city seems to glitter. Banners, slogans and flowers are everywhere welcoming the summit.
To host up to 9,000 heads of state, high ranking officials, businessmen and reporters from 21 APEC economies, the Vietnamese government has spent $250 million building the new National Conference Center, which covers an area of 64 ha (158 acres) and is considered to be the most modern in Southeast Asia to date.
The conference center, which was designed, built and supervised by Vietnamese, German and Chinese experts, imitates world natural heritage site Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.
The five-story main building includes a 3,730-seat conference room, an international press center, two news conference rooms and dozens of working rooms with modern equipment for journalists.
At 10,000 square meters, the center itself is even more imposing. In addition to a museum and many hotels and restaurants, there is an underground garage system and two car parks, which can accommodate over 1,000 vehicles. A bus stop and a heliport also contribute to the center's monumental and modern scenery.
Luxurious hotels in Hanoi also compete to provide the best services to delegations. The city has also completed 8,000 rooms in hotels and guesthouses, including over 2,000 rooms in 8, five-star hotels to serve senior officials and 810 rooms for entrepreneurs. The five-star Sheraton is home to U.S. delegations during the summit, while Chinese and South Korean delegations stay at Daewoo hotel, one of the best hotels in the center of Hanoi.
Telecommunications has also been paid special attention. Optical cables and bronze cables for high-speed telephone, fax and Internet have been installed at conference sites in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. According to estimates, each session would require 300-500 Internet and computer nodes, 4-6 Wi-Fi spots and dozens of telephone and fax machines.
Security, a headache for any host of such an important event, has been paid special attention. Though Vietnam is a politically stable country, strong measures have been taken to ensure that security is controlled at maximum level. The Ministry of Police and Defense have organized many exercises to fight terrorism.
About 300 fire fighters, health workers and security personnel joined a maneuver on fire prevention yesterday at Hanoi Daewoo Hotel in preparation for the summit.
Commenting on Vietnam's preparation for the summit, the BBC said on Friday that Vietnam was ready for the big day.
Reviving the Doha Round of Talks
According to the statement released after the closed session, APEC countries made a strong commitment to restarting the Doha Development Agenda round of the World Trade Organization negotiations.
The five-point statement said, "We are ready to break the current deadlock: each of us is committed to moving beyond our current positions in key areas of the round.
We reaffirm our collective and individual commitments to concluding an ambitious and balanced WTO Doha agreement. To meet this goal, we have an urgent need to break the current deadlock and to put the negotiations back on a path towards a timely conclusion."
The Doha round of talks collapsed in July, mainly due to an impasse over farm subsidies among six key players -- the European Union, India and Brazil, and APEC members the U.S., Australia and Japan.
Leaders issued a join statement on reviving the Doha round of talks
The APEC economic leaders' meeting, the most important event in Vietnam this year, started Saturday with a closed session among heads of delegations from 21 member economies.
Vietnamese president Nguyen Minh Triet stood at the great hall of the National Conference Center in Hanoi to welcome important guests. Australian Prime Minister John Howard was the first to arrive, U.S. President George W. Bush the last. At 2 p.m., the closed meeting began, chaired by Triet.
The leaders of 21 APEC economies discussed important issues related to the cooperation and development within the region. High on the agenda were the promotion of the Doha round of talks, the promotion of high-quality regional trade arrangements and free trade agreements, the Hanoi Action Plan to implement the Busan Roadmap and measures to promote Bogor objectives.
Finishing the meeting, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders signed a separate join statement on the Doha round of talks in which they expressed strong political determination as well as put forth some necessary measures to restart the talks at the earliest opportunity.
The leaders also approved the Hanoi Action Plan, which is considered to be the blueprint for economic and trade cooperation among APEC countries for the next 15 years, contributing to the promotion and improvement of cooperation mechanisms among APEC economies.
After the closed session, APEC leaders had a one-hour dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council during which the proposal for facilitating and liberating trade and investment was raised.
The APEC economic leaders' meeting is the most important event in APEC leader week in Vietnam.
The Biggest Ever Event for Vietnam
With seven important conferences as well as five official visits from the presidents and prime ministers of the U.S., Russia, Chile, China and Japan, it's safe to say that hosting the APEC summit is the most important event in 2006 for Vietnam.
If you come to Hanoi these days, you will see that the whole city seems to glitter. Banners, slogans and flowers are everywhere welcoming the summit.
To host up to 9,000 heads of state, high ranking officials, businessmen and reporters from 21 APEC economies, the Vietnamese government has spent $250 million building the new National Conference Center, which covers an area of 64 ha (158 acres) and is considered to be the most modern in Southeast Asia to date.
The conference center, which was designed, built and supervised by Vietnamese, German and Chinese experts, imitates world natural heritage site Ha Long Bay in Vietnam.
The five-story main building includes a 3,730-seat conference room, an international press center, two news conference rooms and dozens of working rooms with modern equipment for journalists.
At 10,000 square meters, the center itself is even more imposing. In addition to a museum and many hotels and restaurants, there is an underground garage system and two car parks, which can accommodate over 1,000 vehicles. A bus stop and a heliport also contribute to the center's monumental and modern scenery.
Luxurious hotels in Hanoi also compete to provide the best services to delegations. The city has also completed 8,000 rooms in hotels and guesthouses, including over 2,000 rooms in 8, five-star hotels to serve senior officials and 810 rooms for entrepreneurs. The five-star Sheraton is home to U.S. delegations during the summit, while Chinese and South Korean delegations stay at Daewoo hotel, one of the best hotels in the center of Hanoi.
Telecommunications has also been paid special attention. Optical cables and bronze cables for high-speed telephone, fax and Internet have been installed at conference sites in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. According to estimates, each session would require 300-500 Internet and computer nodes, 4-6 Wi-Fi spots and dozens of telephone and fax machines.
Security, a headache for any host of such an important event, has been paid special attention. Though Vietnam is a politically stable country, strong measures have been taken to ensure that security is controlled at maximum level. The Ministry of Police and Defense have organized many exercises to fight terrorism.
About 300 fire fighters, health workers and security personnel joined a maneuver on fire prevention yesterday at Hanoi Daewoo Hotel in preparation for the summit.
Commenting on Vietnam's preparation for the summit, the BBC said on Friday that Vietnam was ready for the big day.
Reviving the Doha Round of Talks
According to the statement released after the closed session, APEC countries made a strong commitment to restarting the Doha Development Agenda round of the World Trade Organization negotiations.
The five-point statement said, "We are ready to break the current deadlock: each of us is committed to moving beyond our current positions in key areas of the round.
We reaffirm our collective and individual commitments to concluding an ambitious and balanced WTO Doha agreement. To meet this goal, we have an urgent need to break the current deadlock and to put the negotiations back on a path towards a timely conclusion."
The Doha round of talks collapsed in July, mainly due to an impasse over farm subsidies among six key players -- the European Union, India and Brazil, and APEC members the U.S., Australia and Japan.
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