State President to attend APEC Summit in Manila

Themed “Building inclusive economies, building a better world”, the meeting will focus on sustainable and inclusive development, economic connectivity, multilateral trade system, involvement of small and medium sized enterprises, as well as resilient and sustainable communities.

Viet Nam joined APEC in 1998, which marked an important milestone in the implementation of its foreign policy of multi-lateralization, diversification and comprehensive international integration.

The forum brings together most of the country's strategic and leading economic and trade partners, including seven strategic partners of Russia, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. They make up 78 per cent of Viet Nam's FDI, 79 per cent of the country's foreign trade amount and 70 per cent of inbound tourists.

Thirteen out of the 15 Free Trade Agreements signed or currently under negotiation by Viet Nam are with APEC member economies.

Viet Nam will host APEC Year in 2017, which is by and large a lynchpin of the country's foreign policy towards 2020, said Deputy PM, FM Pham Binh Minh.