Nguyen Thanh Chau, deputy head of the APEC 2006 Secretariat, said as many as 26 working sessions will be held between May 22-30 in preparation for the Meeting of APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) to be held in the city from June 1-2. He said SOM II will concritise issues discussed during SOM I in Hanoi in February 2005.

According to Mr Chau, SOM II and related meetings will prepare for the MRT Meeting, formulate the Statement on Doha Development Agenda to promote the Doha round of talks on schedule (expected to end later this year), and draft an action plan to implement the Busan roadmap to Bogor goals.

Among other specific goals is to reduce business transaction costs by an additional five percent by 2010 in four major areas of the Trade Facilitation Action Plan, namely customs procedures, e-commerce, quality standards, and business travel, while extending the savings to other areas such as transport services and logistics.

Mr Chau said initiatives on human security, which were put forth at SOM I, will be discussed at SOM II. Delegates will continue discussions on anti-corruption, cultural co-operation and promote dialogues between religions.