Vietnamese president calls on APEC businesses to dig deeper for inclusive growth

Businesses from APEC economies should do more to help the Pacific Rim to flourish, Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang said at a forum held today in central Vietnam as part of the ongoing Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Thanks to contributions from businesses, both global and macro, the Asia-Pacific region now accounts for 60 percent of world's gross domestic product (GDP).

“APEC has become an effective mechanism for businesses to develop,” Quang told the CEO Summit, that opened on Wednesday and will run until Friday in Da Nang.

The bloc has made remarkable achievements over the past 30 years and saved hundreds of millions from poverty, he said, while calling for more contributions from businesses to boost the development of the bloc.

APEC's top priorities should be connecting member economies and the global economic recovery, while continuing to work as a pioneer of free world trade and achieving the goals that APEC leaders set when they gathered in Indonesia in 1994.

Those goals included achieving free and open trade and investment by 2010 for industrialized economies, and by 2020 for developing economies, by reducing trade and investment barriers and promoting the free flow of goods, services and capital.

He urged all businesses to support inclusive growth, social development, ensure food, water and energy security and spread the spirit of entrepreneurship and startups, while increasing economic empowerment for women.

For a better future, APEC members should try harder to realize its vision of a peaceful, stable, dynamic, connected and prosperous Asia-Pacific, Quang said.

Vietnam will continue its transformation with a focus on the completion of market economy institutions, the development of human resources and infrastructure, and deeper international integration, he added.

The CEO Summit has gathered more than 2,000 local and foreign businesses and is one of most important events of the APEC Summit, which is being joined by leaders from the 21 Pacific Rim nations and thousands of businesspeople, including Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, UPS CEO David Abney, and chairman and CEO of J.P. Morgan Asia Pacific Nicolas Aguzin.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the CEO Summit, Vu Tien Loc, chairman of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), shared the same views as the president.

APEC has achieved a lot over the years, but is now facing certain difficulties as economic growth and the productivity of the bloc have slowed while inequality has risen, leading to an increase of trade protectionism that is causing more obstacles for the globalization progress.

“Further development and integration for mutual prosperity has now become a vital requirement for all APEC economies,” Loc said.

In order to do that, governments and businesses should work together to create a good environment and foundation for very-small, small and medium companies, companies with female leaders, and agricultural development, he said.