Tsutomu Koizumi, head of Japan’s delegation to the first Senior Officials’ Meetings (SOM1) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum held in Hanoi in February 2017, has highly valued Vietnam’s efforts in hosting the forum’s meetings.

In an interview granted to the VietNam News Agency in Tokyo on July 12, Tsutomu Koizumi, Deputy Director General of the Economic Affairs Bureau under Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs who also attended the APEC Trade Ministers Meeting in Hanoi, said the APEC meetings hosted by Vietnam have gained great successes. 

Japan pins high hope on Vietnam’s hosting of APEC Summit 2017, he emphasised. Highlighting APEC’s achievements over the past time, including economic integration in Asia-Pacific, Tsutomu Koizumi said APEC makes up 60 percent of the global GDP with about 44.3 trillion USD and half of the world’s trade revenue with 17.8 trillion USD. APEC’s incessant efforts have contributed to the development of the Asia-Pacific region, he noted. 

In the context of changes in the global business climate which sees the increasing domination of services, digital-technology trade and protectionism, APEC has played a more important role in facilitating trade and investment liberalisation in the world, according to Tsutomu Koizumi. He said the APEC Year 2017 will focus on such issues as sustainable development, innovations, regional economic connectivity, the competitiveness of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), food security, sustainable agriculture, and climate change response. 

He suggested organising dialogues for public-private businesses to get their opinions heard during the dialogue between APEC leaders and the APEC Business Advisory Council in order to serve the policy-making process. It is necessary for APEC to roll out mid-term and long-term visions by 2020 when the Bogor goals of free and open trade and investment in Asia-Pacific are expected to be achieved, said Tsutomu Koizumi. Japan, as an APEC member, will make more contributions to APEC discussions and continue its cooperation as well as comprehensive support to make the APEC Summit scheduled in November in VietNam’s central Da Nang city, a success, he promised.