APEC discusses development of Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area
(Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) – The development of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and cooperation in trade facilitation between the Pacific Alliance (PA) and APEC member economies were the main focus of a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on August 26.
The four-session workshop looked into the PA as a building block of the FTAAP; the PA and its ties within the Pacific region; and contributions of the PA to the APEC in terms of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, trade facilitation and services.
Speaking with Vietnam News Agency reporters, Pyzhikov
Nikita, a delegate from Russia, said the FTAAP must be a standard and transparent
agreement.
“To ensure that the agreement will be transparent, we
should work together in establishing a framework of this agreement,” he said,
underlining the need to organise more similar events to clarify the role of
each party in the realisation of the FTAAP.
Tang Guoquiang, International Co-Chair of the Pacific
Economic Cooperation Chair, said the FTAAP plays an important role in economic
development, trade and investment facilitation in Asia-Pacific, which has been
affirmed in many research studies and reports.
Lauding Vietnam’s rapid economic growth rate, he said
Vietnam is a good example in the Asia-Pacific region.
Vietnam can bring into full play its role in building
the FTAAP and the country can benefit from the area, he said.
As an economic community of four Latin American
countries, including Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico, the PA has been working
since 2011 to deepen the integration of these economies and to define joint
actions to strengthen economic ties with the Asia-Pacific, on the basis of
existing bilateral trade agreements between countries. -VNA