Senior officials from 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) wrapped up their two-day meeting here Monday afternoon, paving way for the coming ministerial meeting and economic leaders' meeting slated for later this week.

The meeting covered a wide range of issues including economics, trade, investment, human security, counter-terrorism, disaster and pandemic management, cultural cooperation, tourism, anti- corruption and APEC reform, Le Cong Phung, Vietnam's deputy foreign minister and chair of the Concluding Senior Officials Meeting (CSOM), told a press conference after the meeting.

He said the officials reached consensus on all important reports to be submitted to ministers and leaders of the economies when they meet on Nov. 15-16 and Nov. 18-19 respectively.

The senior officials endorsed the annual report by the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment that includes a second-phase trade facilitation action plan in which member economies agree to a 5 percent reduction in business transaction costs between 2006- 2010, said a press release issued after the meeting.

Negotiations are still going on among member economies on nine model measures for developing regional trade agreements and free trade areas (RTAs/FTAs), said the release. A number of these measures are expected to receive consensus soon and will then be submitted to ministers for endorsement.

The officials also endorsed a Technology Choice Principles Pathfinder for submission to the ministers. Annual reports by the Economic Committee and Budget and Management Committee were also approved.

According to the release, the meeting unanimously agreed to propose that ministers and leaders endorse the Outcomes Report of APEC Pandemic Response Simulation Exercise conducted on June 7-8 this year.

The senior officials also approved SOM Chair's Summary Report on improvements in the individual action plans in 2006 and another report on the results of economic and technical cooperation this year.

Prior to the current concluding meeting, the senior officials held three meetings on the implementation of the programs worked out at the APEC leaders' meeting in Busan, South Korea, in November 2005, and preparations for the current APEC meetings.

APEC currently has 21 members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. The chairmanship rotates among its members, with Vietnam holding the chair this year.

Source: Xinhua