Vietnam plays an active role in building capabilities in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the head of the APEC secretariat has said.

Vietnam’s full participation in trade globalisation since becoming an APEC member has partially contributed to the way the country had been running its economic policy in cope with the impacts of global crisis, APEC Secretariat Executive Director Alan Bollard told Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Singapore.

“Certainly, fitting well in APEC means that Vietnam can benefit from the way APEC is trying to improve the interdependence of economies around the region, he said, adding that the country mainly exports its goods to and gets assistance from APEC economies for foreign investment.

The APEC senior official emphasised Vietnam’s role in the forum’s capacity while getting involved in hundreds of APEC-funded projects over the past 15 years.

He also praised Vietnam’s participation in APEC activities, saying that the country is a co-chair of the working group on emergency preparedness and is working up for hosting a meeting of the energy working group on alternative energy and energy efficiency next month.

Established in 1989, APEC is the forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. It consists of 21 member economies which account for approximately 40 percent of the world's population, approximately 55 percent of world GDP and about 44 percent of world trade.

The APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting is scheduled for October 7-8 in Bali, Indonesia, focusing on APEC's role in strengthening a multinational trading system, fair growth and APEC's vision.-VNA