25th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting opens

APEC leaders at the event include Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President of China Xi Jinping, Chief Executive of China’s Hong Kong Carrie Lam, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae In, Malaysian PM Najib Razak, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern, Papua New Guinea PM Peter O’Neil, Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong, head of Chinese Taipei’s delegation James Soong, Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, and US President Donald Trump.

After the opening session, the APEC leaders held closed sessions.

The APEC Year 2017 under the theme “Creating New Dynamism, Fostering A Shared Future” reflects the APEC member economies’ common concern about seeking “new dynamism” for integration, connectivity and economic growth in the Asia-Pacific. It also shows APEC and Asia-Pacific’s long-term target of “fostering a shared future” which is peace, stability, development and prosperity.

Founded in 1989, the 21-economy APEC is the Asia Pacific’s premier economic forum. Its primary goal is to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. The member economies account for 39 percent of the world population, 57 percent of the world GDP and 47 percent of the global trade, according to statistics in 2014.

Vietnam joined APEC in 1998 and is hosting APEC events this year after the first time in 2006.