Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh reveals APEC backstage story

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh shared the difficulties Vietnam had to face and overcome to successfully organize the APEC summit week.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh. Photo: Giang Huy.

"In the context of different views, the economies attending the APEC Summit Week thought that having a Statement would be difficult," Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh shared with reporters at a meeting this afternoon.

During the APEC High-Level Week (TLCC), there were times when APEC members thought that there would only be a Host Statement from Vietnam. However, they achieved a High-Level Statement with annexes, and a Joint Foreign and Economic Ministers’ Statement with 4 annexes.

"Finally, we have achieved what seemed impossible," said Mr. Minh.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that at APEC meetings before 2016, no member had any intention of opposing trade liberalization. However, this year, the US has changed its stance on liberal balance and the multilateral trading system.

In the document, even the word "A" or "The" multilateral trading system (whether or not the Multilateral Trading System exists) was fiercely debated. In the end, the parties still reached the result of continuing to maintainAPEC is a regional free trade forum.

The Chairman of the APEC Committee recalled two "tense" moments of the TLCC, which were the meeting of foreign and economic ministers (AMM) and the meeting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).

AMM statement should have been issued sooner butIt took 6 days and 5 nights of continuous negotiation.As of the end of November 9, the parties had not yet reached an agreement.documents to be submitted to senior leaders.Vietnam decided to extend the meeting until the following morning. The overnight session focused on multilateral trade, free trade, balance or reciprocity, butno results yet.

"Vietnam decided to end the AMM meetingBut I had to discuss with the ministers to approve in principle a temporary ministerial statement, which is a rare precedent," Mr. Minh recounted.

The Deputy Prime Minister mentioned that the members came to the meeting but did not have an APEC Declaration, asking the parties to cooperate and be flexible in formulating it. After many consultations, the Declaration was approved on November 10. This document has stronger language than the G20 Declaration ontrade and investment issues

Mr. Minh quoted Section 20 of the document, which states "We emphasize APEC's role in supporting the role of multilateral trade. We emphasize the commitment to no increase in protectionism until 2020 and fair trade."

The TLCC documents set the direction and foundation for APEC in the following years. Despite differences in the parties' views on protection and trade liberalization, the documents were still adopted. Vietnam has clearly demonstrated its integration policy and played a leading role in APEC's topics and contents.

With TPP, the Deputy Prime Minister saidThe ministers and senior officials (SOM) negotiators reached the basic principles. At the last minute, due to the lack of a member, the Summit could not meet, but the leaders of the 10 countries assigned the ministers to continue the discussion. Finally, the countries approved the TPP with the new name CPTPP.

US President accepts early invitation to attend

Answering VnExpress's questionsabout the preparation process,Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh said that US President Donald Trump accepted the invitation to attend APEC in Vietnam early.Because of APEC, Mr. Trump visited Asian countries.

General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping also attended APEC after the 19th Party Congress.In 2016 and 2017, more than 10 APEC member economies had new leaders.

According to Mr. Minh, in the past 10 years, it has been rare for most of the highest-ranking leaders to attend APEC. For the first time, the US President and the Chinese President attended the CEO Summit. This year, there are new issues that leaders want to express their views on. Vietnam has comprehensive and strategic partnerships with other countries, so when negotiating, inviting leaders of other countries is more convenient. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe both accepted invitations to visit Vietnam.

APEC with Vietnam is also an opportunity to bring bilateral relations to a new height. There are 4 visits by the President of China, the President of the United States, the President of Chile and the Prime Minister of Canada. Vietnam also has 50 exchanges with high-ranking leaders of countries playing an important role in the region.

"Many leaders want to visit Vietnam this time, but Vietnam can only welcome a maximum of four leaders," said the Deputy Prime Minister.

Explaining why Vietnam hosted APEC, the Deputy Prime Minister said Vietnam proposed it in 2012.Vietnam's policy is to host to actively demonstrate international integration and promote its role and position. APEC will complete the Bogor goals by 2020, so in 2017 we had to consider what will happen after 2020. At APEC this year, Vietnam has proposed APEC's vision after 2020, bringing up common issues.

APEC Committee Chairman emphasizedVietnam's achievements after APEC are affirming its role and position in the region and strengthening relations with major partners.Economically, Vietnam has 121 agreements worth more than 20 billion USD and opportunities for businesses.

This is the second time in 10 years that APEC has had the participation of the highest level leaders. There are up to 21,000 people attending the events, of which TLCC alone has 11,000 people.2,800 reporters reported. InCEO Summit, the record number of attendees was more than 2,000 people, compared to the usual level of 1,000 - 1,500 people.

Among Vietnam's initiatives are the meeting between APEC and ASEAN leaders, the Vietnam Business Forum with 2,000 participating businesses, including more than 800 Vietnamese businesses.

Sharing his feelings after the end of APEC year, the Deputy Prime Minister said:TLCC, the central provinces have storm Damrey, he just hopes the weather will be favorable.

"We need favorable conditions. The moment I felt we achieved our goal was when the senior leaders took a photo outdoors. That image showed that the week was successful in both content and form," said the Deputy Prime Minister.

According to VNE