Yose Rizal Damuri, Chair of Indonesia’s Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (Photo: Huong Tra/VOV5)

Yose Rizal Damuri, Chair of Indonesia’s Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, said: “I think Vietnam did a very good job. It managed to put or to offer some initiatives and also new agendas to the discussion. For example, to see what will be the APEC beyond 2020 because 2020 is subjected to Bogor Goals, the goals that have been carried out for more than 25 years. And Vietnam actually comes up with the idea to support or to look at what is the vision beyond 2020.”

Valery Sorokin, head of the Russian delegation, said the Summit’s 4 priorities are of major relevance: “These priorities receive strong support from participating countries, including Russia. At meetings, representatives from member countries analyzed problems, directions, prospects, and solutions to strengthen cooperation between APEC members to jointly address their shared challenges.”

Delegates to the 29th APEC Ministerial Meeting in Da Nang (Photo: Huong Tra/VOV5)

Alan Bolard, Executive Director of APEC Secretariat, believes APEC 2017 will mark an important milestone in the bloc’s cooperation process: “Vietnam's priorities in general are about helping continue the big story about regional economic integration and getting the benefit from trade. But also now it is making sure that they happen all around the region, not just for some economies or some people. So some of that are quite new for us and it's a big challenge. But Vietnam is really focusing on that.”