Senior Officials Meeting Concludes

APEC Senior Officials concluded the last day of meetings with a plenary session held today in Ha Noi. At the plenary meeting Senior Officials reached consensus on a range of reports that will now be submitted to Ministers and Leaders of APEC's 21 Member Economies when they meet later in the week.

The two-day meeting, chaired by Viet Nam's First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Cong Phung, covered a wide range of issues including economics, trade, investment, human security, counter-terrorism, disaster and pandemic management, cultural cooperation, tourism, anti-corruption and APEC reform.

Senior Officials endorsed the annual report by the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) that includes a second-phase Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP) in which member economies agreed to a 5% reduction in business transaction costs between 2006-2010.

Intensive discussions are still on-going among member economies on model measures for developing regional trade arrangements and free trade agreements (RTAs/FTAs). A number of these measures are expected to receive consensus soon and will then be submitted to Ministers for endorsement.

Senior Officials also endorsed a Technology Choice Principles Pathfinder initiative for submission to Ministers. This initiative aims to encourage innovation, competition and maximise the benefits of technology for the businesses and consumers.

The annual reports by the Economic Committee and Budget and Management Committee were also approved.

The meeting also unanimously agreed to propose that Ministers and Leaders endorse the Outcomes Report of APEC Pandemic Response Simulation Exercise conducted on 7-8 June this year.

Finally, Senior Officials approved the SOM Chair's Summary Report on improvements in the individual action plans (IAPs) in 2006 and another report on the results of economic and technical cooperation (ECOTECH) this year.