China Commits US$2 Million for Capacity Building in the Asia-Pacific
China has announced that it will make a US$2 million donation to the APEC Support Fund (ASF) to strengthen APEC's capacity building initiatives.
The funding was announced by President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China at the 14th APEC Economic Leader's Meeting in Ha Noi today.
President Hu said: "Economic and technical cooperation is an important means to narrow the development gap and promote common prosperity. In recent year, a number of new problems and challenges have emerged in the areas of financial security, energy security and public health security. Many APEC members lack adequate experience and capability to respond to them."
During his address at the leader's retreat, President Hu called for increased input to help developing Member Economies of APEC boost their international competitiveness and capacity to meet global challenges.
Speaking after the announcement by President Hu, China's Senior Official to the APEC Process, Wang Xiaolong, said: "China is an active participant in all economic and technical (ECOTECH) related capacity building initiatives. Now with enlarged areas of cooperation, development efforts require an expansion in the provision of available resources.
"China's contribution to the ASF will promote cooperation in high priority ECOTECH sectors, and help developing economies in their efforts to promote economic development and prosperity."
The funding from China will be allocated over three years from 2007 to 2009.
Designed by Australia, the ASF was launched in 2005 with a contribution of AU$3 million by Australia to be dispersed over three years.
The objective of the ASF is to provide a flexible funding mechanism to support capacity building activities for APEC developing economies. Since it was established, donations from other economies have been pledged that have funded a number of quality projects in areas such as energy, human resources development, and human security.
These projects have not only met the demand for capacity building in developing economies, but also put APEC region in a better position to meet the emerging challenges of globalization.