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The Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, today (January 28) hosted a welcome dinner for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC) members attending the first 2015 ABAC Meeting in Hong Kong from January 27 to 30.
ABAC has chosen "Resilient, Inclusive Growth: A Fair Deal for All" as the theme this year. This echoes the 2015 APEC theme of "Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World" and mirrors APEC's collective efforts to increase sustainability and the pace of development through integration and inclusive growth in the region.
In the 2014 APEC hosted by China, two important cornerstones were laid for further economic integration in the region. First, the Beijing Roadmap for APEC's Contribution to the Realisation of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) sets out a comprehensive way forward for translating the long-term vision of FTAAP, first initiated by ABAC, into concrete actions. Second, the APEC Connectivity Blueprint sets out initiatives that strive for more efficient flows of goods, services, capital and people to chart the future work on enhancing regional connectivity in the coming 10 years.
ABAC has played a very important role in advocating the FTAAP and contributing to APEC's connectivity agenda in the past years.
ABAC was established in 1996 as a permanent business advisory body to provide advice to APEC on business sector priorities.
APEC is a forum set up in 1989 for high-level government-to-government dialogue on trade and economic issues. Currently, APEC comprises 21 member economies. Further details can be found at www.apec.org.
Ends/Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Issued at HKT 19:40
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