APEC senior officials' meeting "productive:" chairman

Source:Xinhua Published: 2012-9-3 18:04:09

The just concluded Senior Officials' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was "productive" and "constructive," the meeting's chairman Igor Morgulov said Monday in Vladivostok.

Morgulov, who was the Russian deputy foreign minister, told a press conference that the two-day meeting has prepared relevant documents to present at the upcoming APEC meetings at high levels.

The Senior Officials' Meeting has no right to make decisions, but it could submit bills to the Ministerial Meeting on Sept. 5-6. Those bills passed by the Ministerial Meeting will be tabled to the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting on Sept. 8-9, Morgulov explained.

"I would like to conclude, we are satisfied with the results and the meeting was quite productive. We have agreed on a large number of initiatives," the Russian official said.

"The meeting also showed that all delegations hold a constructive approach, which gives us grounds to believe that the upcoming (APEC) summit will be effective," he said.

Meanwhile, Morgulov admitted that there were also disagreements at the meeting, as "economies of APEC are quite different."

"But, we are trying to find a balance between different economies," he said.

According to the official, Russia, as host of the APEC gatherings, has tabled more than 50 percent of the initiatives at the meeting.

Representatives from APEC members have discussed issues related to the four major topics of the APEC gathering, including trade and investment liberalization and regional economic integration, the strengthening of food security, the formation of reliable transport and logistical chains, and intensive interaction for innovative growth.

It was the fourth and last meeting of APEC senior officials in 2012.

Posted in: Asia-Pacific

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