(VOVworld) – Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh said hosting the 2017 APEC Forum will be a priority in Vietnam’s external affairs between now and 2020.

Minh, who is also Minister of Foreign Affairs, made the statement at a seminar in Hanoi on Wednesday with the theme “2017 APEC Year - towards a dynamic, self-reliant, and united community”.

He said Vietnam’s second hosting of the event is Vietnam’s most important contribution to the forum in its 20 years of official membership.

The 2017 APEC Year is an opportunity for Vietnam to prove its determination to integrate fully into the world economy and join other ASEAN members in nurturing friendship, cooperation, and solidarity with partners.

Deputy PM, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh. (Photo: Vietnam News Agency)

Deputy Prime Minister Minh asked ministries, agencies, provinces, and businesses to revise their way of thinking and working and propose new initiatives.

Vietnamese institutes and enterprises should catch up with modern trends and step up their search for new ideas for the 2017 APEC Year.

Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son clarified the seminar’s meaning: “the seminar aims to indicate Vietnam’s foreign policy of diversification and multilateralization of external relations and active international integration, especially into APEC institutions. The event’s theme matches the region’s trend of increasing economic links. Vietnam’s integration into APEC will boost its contributions to the bloc, which we’ll help develop the Vietnamese economy. The 2017 APEC summit will help promote Vietnam as a dynamic nation with many achievements in the renewal process. ”