The meeting, held in Viet Nam's central city of Da Nang, was also attended by representatives of the APEC Secretariat and related international organisations, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Speaking at the meeting, Bui Ba Bong, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the many activities within the APEC framework, including a high-level meeting on avian influenza held in Brisbane, Australia, from October 31 to November 1, 2005, and the two-day APEC ministerial meeting scheduled to open in Da Nang on May 5, indicated the determination and mounting efforts of APEC economies to join hands together and in union with the international community for controlling avian influenza and preventing a potential influenza pandemic.

At the preparatory meeting, the participants discussed measures to strengthen cooperation among APEC members to prepare for and prevent avian and influenza pandemics.

They also discussed the APEC Action Plan on the Prevention of and Response to Avian and Influenza Pandemics to be submitted to the APEC Ministerial Meeting for endorsement, and prepared the APEC Ministerial Meeting's agenda.

Da Nang is one of the Vietnamese localities that have taken the lead in the fight against bird flu. The municipal authorities have taken serious measures to contain the deadly virus, including providing financial assistance for bird flu-hit poultry farmers and closely monitoring the transport of poultry from affected areas.(VNA)