Politicians and scholars worldwide are paying close attention to the upcoming 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Beijing, and they spoke highly of the event's three major topics.

They also expressed hope that the topics -- "Advancing regional economic integration", "Promoting innovative development, economic reform and growth" and "Strengthening comprehensive development in infrastructure and connectivity", will help bolster world economic recovery and growth.

A HOPE FOR REAL PROGRESS IN REGIONAL INTEGRATION

Wishnu Wardhana, co-chair of APEC Business Advisory Council in Indonesia, said that there are many regional integration mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region. Converging these mechanisms on the platform of APEC entails courage and wisdom from APEC members, in a bid to create a healthy environment for regional economic growth.

Indonesia appreciates China's constant efforts for the long, balanced and sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific, Wardhana also said.

The executive director of APEC Secretariat, Alan Bollard, noted that APEC has been playing a pivotal role in the breaking down the trade barriers and promoting free trade in the region.

Bollard also expressed his expectation that this meeting will make substantive progress on building the Asia-Pacific free trade area.

Richard Kozul-Wright, a senior officer with United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), pointed out that the Asia-Pacific free trade area is a better option, compared to other multilateral free trade agreements, because it is more inclusive and attaches more importance to providing trade convenience via the construction of integral infrastructure in developing economies.

When the Asia-Pacific free trade area grows to its full shape, it can be a model for all free trade areas across the world, said Wright.

Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating also noted that APEC is an important platform for its members to solve trade problems, and as early as the beginning of the establishment of APEC, free trade has been a crucial goal it constantly pursuits.

Keating also stressed that China's efforts in the area of multilateral cooperation should be supported.

A HOPE FOR INTERCONNECTION TO BRING BENEFITS TO ALL SIDES

Chun Kalim, a professor from Hoseo University of South Korea, said that the key to the sustainable development and long-term peace in Asia and the Pacific is to implement the cooperation.

Ramesh Chopra, a strategist and retired Lt. General of India Army, also articulated his confidence in the APEC meeting in Beijing, believing that it will be an important meeting in promoting the economic development and cooperation in Asia-Pacific region.

India hopes to strengthen its ties with other economies in the region and find opportunities of infrastructure construction, trade cooperation and technology transfer for the South Asia nation, said Chopra.

At the same time, Alexei Ulyukayev, Russian Minister of economic development, told Xinhua that Russia hoped the meeting can hasten the progress on charting the roadmap for Asia-Pacific free trade area and can coordinate the integration process in the region.

"The Silk Road Economic Belt" will spur large scale of infrastructure construction, helping Russia explore its own transit transport potentialities, Ulyukaye also noted.

A HOPE FOR CHINA'S EXPERIENCE TO HELP ASIA-PACIFIC

Oh Ei Sun, senior research fellow at Nanyang Technology University of Singapore and former political secretary to the Malaysian prime minister, said that the APEC Beijing meeting is a good opportunity for ASEAN countries to further deepen their cooperation with China and realize a win-win situation.

In the meanwhile, Laura Q. Del Rosario, Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, said that China has done more than what is expected in Asia-Pacific regional economic integration and the country should be congratulated for the amount of work that it introduced to APEC.

She also stressed the importance of infrastructure connectivity in the region to pave ways for cross-border businesses.

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