The third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM-3) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum and six related meetings concluded the fifth day seating on September 10 with high consensus on a number of issues.

The workshop on anti-corruption and transparency on trade transaction entered the final session, hearing reports from Vietnamese delegates on the private sector's active participation in legal reform and the fight against corruption.

The Economic Committee workshop on public management heard reports by Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam, the World Bank and Malaysia. The Vietnamese delegation shared its experiences in shifting into a market economy and participation of the public in State management.

As part of the new direction, a series of efforts to stimulate renovation have been made, including focusing on personnel training to improve the working capacity of staff, according to the Vietnamese report.

The Market Access Group (MAG) organised a single session to discuss its 2006-07 working plan. The delegates approved a draft for the Regional Trading Agreements and Free Trade Agreements (RTAs/FTAs).

They also agreed to accept Australia's US $130,000 project to set up an APEC database for trade negotiations.

The meeting's results will be submitted to the Committee for Trade and Investment.

The Investment Experts' Group (IEG) reported on the progressive implementation of its projects for the 2006-07 period. Two of this year's six projects have now completed, including the IEG-OECD Seminar on Policy Framework for Investment on September 8.

The delegates discussed seven projects for 2007 and heard the Japanese delegation's presentation of an action plan for investment liberalisation. This will constitute part of the IEG's contribution to an action plan to implement the Busan roadmap which will be submitted to the APEC economic leaders in November.

They also discussed improving the regulation governing the group's operation. (VNA)