2014 APEC Third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM3) Held in Beijing By APEC Secretariat On 20-21 August, 2014 APEC Third Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM3) was held in Beijing. As the last plenary gathering of Senior Officials before this year’s Leaders’ Week, its main objective is to make comprehensive preparation for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) in November. During the two-day meeting, Senior Officials from 21 APEC member economies held in-depth discussions centered around the theme Shaping the Future through Asia-Pacific Partnership and the three priority areas, including regional economic integration, innovative development, economic reform and growth, and comprehensive connectivity and infrastructure development. The discussions allowed APEC members to build more consensus and implement cooperation initiatives, making sound preparations for the outcomes of the Leaders’ Meeting. State Councilor H.E. Mr. Yang Jiechi, Chairman of the APEC China 2014 Organizing Committee, addressed the opening of the meeting. Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong, 2014 APEC SOM Chair, presided the meeting. Assistant Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen attended the meeting. Meeting participants also include delegates from 21 APEC member economies, APEC Secretariat, ABAC, and APEC observers. APEC members have reached extensive consensus on the outcomes of the Leaders’ Meeting. Member economies agreed to promote the spirit of mutual trust, inclusiveness, innovation, and win-win, to strengthen Asia-Pacific Partnership, and to work together to plan for a long-term Asia-Pacific development vision. Through this meeting, member economies have carried out in-depth exchange and expanded common ground on the basis of the two previous Senior Officials’ Meetings. There has been extensive agreement that APEC should continue to promote Asia-Pacific regional economic integration, kick off the process for the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), further promote APEC members economic structural reform, promote innovative development, explore new economic growth drive and highlights, actively facilitate the formulation of the APEC Blueprint on Connectivity, and ensure high level design and solid support for stronger regional connectivity. During the SOM3 and Related Meetings, China has also hosted more than 100 relevant events, including meetings of APEC Committees and Working Groups, Policy Dialogues, and Site Visits, covering health, anti-corruption, food security, customs, disaster management, forestry, and quality inspection, registering more than 3000 delegates from home and abroad. These Related Meetings have helped build extensive consensus through in-depth discussions, putting in place a sound basis for the SOM3 and the Leaders’ Meeting. China attaches great importance to the SOM3 and Related Meetings, and has worked actively to promote cooperation and consensus. China has held briefings on the preparation work of the Leaders’ Week of November, including the outcome documents, organizational work, and preliminary arrangements for the Leaders Meeting, and has organized a site visit to the venue of the Leaders’ Meeting for APEC delegates. Member economies have expressed appreciation to the host for the solid political preparation and highly efficient and transparent organizational work, and have expressed expectations for a historic AELM that will establish a new vision and inject new vigor for the long-term development of the Asia-Pacific. The SOM3 and Related Meetings have registered record highs in terms of the numbers of participants and activities and the days of the meetings. Beijing has done tremendous amount of work to support the logistics of the meetings. The host city has hosted a Welcome Reception and Gala Performance for the meeting delegates in the National Center for the Performing Arts. Mayor of Beijing Mr. Wang Anshun made welcoming remarks. The performance featured the theme “Blooming Beijing, and has encapsulated best wishes for a beautiful future of an Asia-Pacific community enjoying unity and cooperation. The performance is an ensemble of song and dance, Peking Opera, acrobatics, and instrumental music. The magnificent and beautiful performances fully demonstrated the richness of the Chinese culture. The audience spoke highly of the performance as spectacular and unforgettable, and expressed their strong confidence that with the meticulous preparation, the 2014 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) will achieve fruitful results. The 2014 AELM will be held during 5-11 November in Beijing, China. During the Leaders’ Week, China will also host APEC CEO Summit and a number of other relevant events.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 00:05:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015