Hanoi, Viet Nam, 11-12 May 2017

A total of 37 delegates from 17 APEC member economies – Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Chile; China; Indonesia; Japan; Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; the Philippines; Russian Federation; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; the United States and Viet Nam -- as well as representatives from international organizations, such as UNESCO, APRU and WISE, participated in a two-day workshop on 11-12 May 2017 in Hanoi, Viet Nam to determine the vision, objectives, targets and indicators as well as the instruments and tools for achieving regional educational goals.

Mr. Pham Chi Cuong, from the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training, said, “This workshop provided a platform for APEC economies to forge and reinforce bilateral and multilateral co-operation in education and training, and many new initiatives, projects and programmes would come out.”

“the Action Plan will unify APEC member economies in a common drive to build a dynamic and prosperous Asia-Pacific community,” Kanittha Hanirattisai from Thailand’s Education Ministry added. She believes that APEC economies should work together on the Action Plan of the APEC Education Strategy to achieve the goal of a strong and cohesive education community.

Guest participants from other international organizations shared progress of related regional and global initiatives, and expressed support for the Action Plan of the APEC Education Strategy.

After a two-day large group drafting session, participants reached an agreement on the content and format of the Action Plan of the APEC Education Strategy. The Workshop produced a draft that elaborated on the vision and objectives, targets and indicators, instruments and tools, and projects and initiatives to drive forth a vision which focuses on competencies, innovation and employability. The draft will be finalized and submitted for endorsement in fall of 2017.