Third senior officials’ meeting and Related Meetings begin in Ho Chi Minh city

(CPV) - Third Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM 3) and Related Meetings are held in Ho Chi Minh City.  SOM 3, the largest SOM cluster of APEC 2017, consists of 75 meetings, workshops and dialogues from APEC fora, covering cooperation in diverse areas, including: trade and investment liberization; business facilitation, digital/internet economy; economic, financial and social inclusion; finance; quality growth; SMEs; anti-corruption,;health; emergency preparedness; and structural reform.

The Symposium on Advancing Inclusion in the APEC Region, the 7th High-level Meeting on Health and Economy, and the SOM Dialogue on FTAs and RTAs will be the highlight of SOM 3. At these meetings, APEC delegates will continue their work program and long term cooperation plan to deliver concrete progress to implement the APEC 2017 theme and priorities, as well as APEC's long term goals of trade and investment liberization and business facilitation.

The outcomes of SOM 3 are crucial. Delegates will discuss details of the program, agenda and arrangements for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week (AELW) this November, including bilateral visits and meetings that will take place during the AELW. Delegates will also discuss expected outcomes of the Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

On this ocassion, from August 18th – 25th, the Food Security Week and High-Level Policy Dialgogue on Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture in response to Climate change will be held in Can Tho City.

This is the first time that Ho Chi Minh City hosts APEC 2017 meetings. To welcome APEC delegates, Ho Chi Minh City has actively carried out logistic and necessary protocol preparations, includingstaff training.

This is an important opportunity for the city to showcase its dynamism as a young economic, financial, science-technology and manufacturing center and a key exchange hub of the Asia-Pacific region./.