• A total of 58 rooms have been fitted out at the Ministry of Defense Convention Center and the National Museum
• The Real Felipe Fortress Convention Center in Callao is ready for the 2nd ABAC SME Summit

Vice-admiral Luis Giampietri, Chairman of the APEC 2008 High-Level Commission in charge of organizing APEC Peru 2008 meetings, supervised the facilities of the Real Felipe Fortress Convention Center that has 7 thousand m2 and was furnished with an investment of more than 12 million dollars.  This center will receive 1000 small and medium entrepreneurs that will meet on 17 November for the 2nd ABAC SME Summit, a meeting organized by the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), in the frame of the XVI Leaders Week.

“This meeting is very important because SMEs in APEC represent a strong force that generates employment.  This convention center, which will have a large auditorium with capacity for 1,500 people, a press center, an accreditation room, an area for offices and cafeteria was implemented without affecting the historic character of the fortress, obtaining by this an added-value for this historic Peruvian Patrimony,” said the High-Level Commission Chairman.

The other venues where the Leaders’ Week will take place appear ready to receive Leaders, Ministers and Senior Officials that will meet at the Ministry of Defense Convention Center (MoD) and at the National Museum, respectively.

The Operations Director of the APEC 2008 High-Level Commission, Gonzalo Ansola, informed that the greatest challenge while implementing the rooms was the modernization of the rooms’ logistics, which must comply with the APEC Protocol.

At the MoD Convention Center, four floors of the building have been fitted out for the Leaders’ Meetings, as well as APEC Business Leaders.  The greeting of the Leaders will take place in the first floor, while the fifth floor will have the waiting rooms where Senior Officials, security personnel, doctors and interpreters will accompany their representatives.

“Besides these waiting rooms and the prayer rooms for Leaders and Delegates, this floor has a health post implemented with a defibrillator, stretchers, doctors and nurses”, said the Operations Director.

The main part of the Summit will be conducted in the sixth floor, where the two Leaders Retreats will take place in the Bolognesi and Cáceres rooms, both of which are armored.  At the Bolognesi Room, with a round table of 12 meters of diameter donated by Australia, Leaders will meet on 22 November to discuss subjects related to the World Financial Crisis, the increase of the prices of food and basic products, as well as the development of negotiations of the Doha Round.

On Sunday 23, the Leaders’ Retreat II will take place in the Caceres Room. This time, all 21 Leaders will meet in a room with a square layout and special lightening.  Finally, in the 7th floor, the Leaders Dialogue with ABAC Businessmen, in a room where Leaders and ABAC representatives will meet in five circles.  Besides, in this floor there will also be a waiting room for Leaders, where they will wait for the arrival of all the dignitaries to begin their meetings; as well as special rooms for bilateral meetings between Leaders.

On the other hand, two other meetings will take place at the National Museum, also in the frame of Leaders’ Week:  the Conclusive Senior Officials’ Meeting and the 20th APEC Ministerial Meeting.  Both venues have a total of 58 rooms that are completely equipped to receive Leaders, Ministers and Senior Officials from APEC Member Economies during the so-called Leaders’ Week, a huge event with which APEC Peru 2008 comes to an end in our country.