The two-day event was also attended by Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Rufus Yerxa and representatives from the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

The meeting has adopted specific measures to promote regional economic connectivity, including speeding up the implementation of the Bogor goals, striving for a successful conclusion of Doha Round, and cooperating in investment and trade issues.

The ministers also agreed to promote the involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises in global supply chains, improve structure reform and enhance women’s role in socio-economic development.

Food security and disasters topped the agenda of discussions on strengthening cooperation in coping with global challenges.

The ministers underscored their determination to carry out commitments of the second APEC Ministerial Meeting on Food Security in Russia in mid 2012 and beef up cooperation for the sustainable development of agricultural production, biotechnology transfer, and sustainable management of ecological system

In a speech, at the event, Viet Nam’s Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh emphasised the need for increasing cooperation and APEC’s contributions in the context of unpredictable developments in the Asia-Pacific and the world as well as the slow recovery of the global and regional economy, which affect each nation’s economic recovery efforts, the global economic restructuring process and multilateral trade.

As Viet Nam is co-chair of APEC working group on coping with emergencies, the FM proposed APEC forum continue to consider cooperation in coping with disasters and emergency cases as a key content to ensure human security and implement APEC development strategy.

He also presented Viet Nam’s initiatives on community-based disaster management and enhancing APEC cooperation on search and rescue at sea.

At the session on food security, the FM shared Vietnam ’s achievements in agricultural development as well as its contributions to international efforts to ensure food security.

He said ensuring food security should be combined with efforts to fulfil the Millennium Development Goals, cope with climate change and exploit and manage natural resources, including water, oceanic and marine resources, in a sustainable manner.

At the closing ceremony on Sept. 6, the ministers adopted the joint statement of the 24th APEC Ministerial Meeting and five attached documents on cooperation in transparency, trustful supply chains, creativeness, education cooperation and human resources development.

The results and documents of the meeting will later be presented to APEC leaders for approval at the 20th APEC Summit.

On this occasion, the eighth session of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Economic Ministers took place on the morning of Sept. 6. TPP members welcomed Canada and Mexico’s participation in the negotiation and agreed to further promote the efforts to complete the negotiation in the time to come.

FM Minh had several meetings with his counterparts from Russia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Canada, Peru among others while Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang met with many APEC counterparts.

At these meetings, the ministers expressed their delight at the fast development of bilateral ties and agreed to further deepen economic, trade and investment ties, at the same time increasing mutual support and close coordination in international and regional issues of mutual concern.