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You Are Here: Home > News and Media > China Signs MOU with APEC for US$2 million Contribution
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China Signs MOU with APEC for US$2 million Contribution
Canberra, Australia, January 15, 2007
China has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the APEC Secretariat for the donation of US$2 million to be used on APEC capacity building projects.
Signed on the first day of APEC 2007 meetings in Australia, the funding from China will be administered by the APEC Support Fund (ASF). The donation will be used to support projects in areas such as skills development, ensuring environmentally sound growth and strengthening the dynamism of small and medium enterprises.
The contribution was announced by China's President, Hu Jintao, during the APEC Leaders' Meeting in Ha Noi last November. In announcing the contribution, President Hu noted the importance of cooperation between APEC Member Economies to deal with challenges posed by the global economy.
"Economic and technical cooperation is an important means to narrow the development gap and promote common prosperity. We should increase input, make our cooperation more effective and focused and help developing members of APEC improve their international competitiveness and their capacity to meet the challenges," President Hu said.
With the signing of the MOU by China's Senior Official to APEC, Mr. Wang Xiaolong, and the Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, Ambassador Colin Heseltine, the funds will now be provided to the support fund and dispersed for a range of projects around the region.
Ambassador Heseltine welcomed the donation on behalf of APEC that he said would help a large number of people around the region.
"The APEC Support Fund is providing direct assistance to increase the skills and capacity of people in the Asia-Pacific to be competitive in the global economy," Ambassador Heseltine said at the MOU signing ceremony.
"APEC welcomes China's contribution to strengthen the fund."
Mr. Wang Xiaolong said: "China's contribution to the ASF will promote cooperation in high priority ECOTECH sectors, such as developing human capital, strengthening economic infrastructure, developing the dynamism of small and medium enterprises, and help developing economies in their efforts to promote economic development and prosperity. The quick realization of funding also reflects China's unremitting efforts in this regard and unwavering support in the development of APEC."
The ASF provides a flexible funding mechanism to support capacity building activities for APEC developing economies. Since it was established in 2005 donations from other economies have been pledged that have funded a number of quality projects in areas such as energy, human resources development, and human security.
News photographs are available for download and use by media organizations here.
For further information or to arrange an interview contact:
Christopher Hawkins on +61 (0)433 810 844 or E-mail: ch@apec.org
Anita Douglas on +61 (0)420 945 613 or E-mail: ad@apec.org
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