Nha Trang city eager to welcome APEC delegates hinh anh 1APEC's informal SOM in December 2016. (Source: VNA)
 
Khanh Hoa (VNA) – Fresh flowers, colourful decorations and the APEC logo can be seen everywhere these days in Nha Trang city, the central province of Khanh Hoa, as the first official event in 2017 of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is set to open here on February 18.

The first Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM 1) of APEC in 2017 and related meetings will take place in Nha Trang from February 18 to March 3, with the participation of delegates from APEC’s 21 member economies.

A total of 56 meetings will be held over the course of two weeks by 38 APEC committees and working groups in various aspects.

To serve the activities, the APEC 2017 national committee and the host province have selected five top hotels in Nha Trang as venues for the meetings, which are the Sheraton, the Yasaka, the Vinpearl Land, the Sunrise and the Liberty Central.

With more than 1,500 delegates staying in the city for half a month, this is the first large-scale event hosted by Nha Trang city. Local authorities have made preparations for the event for several months, spending 3.4 billion VND (nearly 150,000 USD) on upgrading infrastructure and arranging security and logistics services.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Bac, who is also vice chairman of Khanh Hoa’s guiding committee for organising APEC activities, said all preparations have been completed on February 16.

To show the local hospitality, the province has also arranged sight-seeing tours for delegates and selected the local famous aloes wood and swallow’s nests as gifts for them.

Bac said the event provides a precious opportunity for the province to advertise its potentials and strengths. The provincial authorities have requested for bilateral meetings with representatives from big APEC economies such as the US, Russia, China, the RoK and Japan, with the aim of expanding contacts with the foreign business circle.-VNA        
VNA