Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member
economies that promotes freetrade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. It was established
in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the
advent of regional trade blocs in other parts of the world; to defuse fears that highly
industrialized Japan (a member of G7) would come to dominate economic activity in the
Asia-Pacific region; and to establish new markets for agricultural products and raw
materials beyond Europe.
An annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is attended by the heads of government of
all APEC members except Republic of China (Taiwan) (which is represented by
a ministerial-level official under the name Chinese Taipei as economic leader).[4] The
location of the meeting rotates annually among the member economies, and a famous
tradition, followed for most (but not all) summits, involves the attending leaders dressing
in a national costume of the host country. APEC has three official observers:
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Secretariat, the Pacific Economic
Cooperation Council and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. APEC's Host Economy
of the Year is considered to be invited in the first place for geographical representation to
attend G20 meetings following G20 guidelines.
HISTORY:
In January 1989, Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke called for more effective
economic cooperation across the Pacific Rim region. This led to the first meeting of APEC
in the Australian capital of Canberra in November, chaired by Australian Foreign Affairs
Minister Gareth Evans.
In January 1989, Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke called for more effective
economic cooperation across the Pacific Rim region. This led to the first meeting of APEC
in the Australian capital of Canberra in November, chaired by Australian Foreign Affairs
Minister Gareth Evans. Attended by ministers from twelve countries, the meeting
concluded with commitments for future annual meetings in Singapore and South Korea.
Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) opposed the initial
proposal, instead proposing the East Asia Economic Caucus which would exclude non-
Asian countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This
plan was opposed because of the member countries in the America Region, and strongly
criticized by Japan and the United States.
The first APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting occurred in 1993 when U.S. President Bill
Clinton, after discussions with Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, invited the heads
of government from member economies to a summit on Blake Island.[10] He believed it
would help bring the stalled Uruguay Round of trade talks back on track. At the meeting,
some leaders called for continued reduction of barriers to trade and investment,
envisioning a community in the Asia-Pacific region that might promote prosperity through
cooperation. The APEC Secretariat, based in Singapore, was established to coordinate
the activities of the organization.
During the meeting in 1994 in Bogor, Indonesia, APEC leaders adopted the Bogor Goals
that aim for free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for
industrialized economies and by 2020 for developing economies. In 1995, APEC
established a business advisory body named the APEC Business Advisory Council
(ABAC), composed of three business executives from each member economy.
21 MEMBER ECONOMIES:
APEC currently has 21 members, including most countries with a coastline on the Pacific
Ocean. However, the criterion for membership is that the member is a separate economy,
rather than a state. As a result, APEC uses the term member economies rather than
member countries to refer to its members. One result of this criterion is that membership
of the forum includes Taiwan (officially the Republic of China, participating under the
name "Chinese Taipei") alongside People's Republic of China (see Cross-Strait
relations), as well as Hong Kong, which entered APEC as a British colony but it is now
a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. APEC also includes
three official observers: ASEAN, the Pacific Islands Forum and the Pacific Economic
Cooperation Council.
What Does APEC Do?
APEC ensures that goods, services, investment and people move easily across borders.
Members facilitate this trade through faster customs procedures at borders; more
favorable business climates behind the border; and aligning regulations and standards
across the region. For example, APEC's initiatives to synchronize regulatory systems is
a key step to integrating the Asia-Pacific economy. A product can be more easily exported
with just one set of common standards across all economies.
SUSTAINABLE AND INCLUSIVE
Sustainable and Inclusive Asia-Pacific
APEC works to help all residents of the Asia-Pacific participate in the growing economy.
For example, APEC projects provide digital skills training for rural communities and help
indigenous women export their products abroad.
APEC operates as a cooperative, multilateral economic and trade forum. Member
economies participate on the basis of open dialogue and respect for views of all
participants. In APEC, all economies have an equal say and decision-making is reached
by consensus. There are no binding commitments or treaty obligations. Commitments are
undertaken on a voluntary basis and capacity building projects help members implement
APEC initiatives.
APEC's structure is based on both a "bottom-up" and "top-down" approach. Four core
committees and their respective working groups provide strategic policy
recommendations to APEC Leaders and Ministers who annually set the vision for
overarching goals and initiatives. The working groups are then tasked with implementing
these initiatives through a variety of APEC-funded projects. Members also take individual
and collective actions to carry out APEC initiatives in their individual economies with the
assistance of APEC capacity building projects.
3 Pilars of APEC:
1. Trade and Investment Liberalization
APEC members take actions to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade and
investment that boosts job creation, incomes and growth. Collaboration is guided
by APEC's Regional Economic Integration agenda and includes the advancement
of bilateral and regional trade agreements and the long-term goal of a Free Trade Area
of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).
2. Business Facilitation
APEC members pursue measures to reduce the time, cost and uncertainty of doing
business in the region and open new economic opportunities including for small
firms, women and youth. APEC's Structural Reform agenda supports the development
and harmonization of policies that improve market access and efficiency, and uphold
public interest such as the safeguarding of health and safety.
3. Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH)
ECOTECH builds the technical capacity of APEC's diverse members to promote trade,
investment and robust, secure and sustainable economic growth that widely benefits the
region's people. Priorities include strengthening anti-corruption, cross-border education
and skills training, emergency preparedness, energy security, environmental
protection, defense against pandemics and infrastructure development, among others.
How APEC operate?
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) operates as a cooperative, multilateral
economic and trade forum. It is the only international intergovernmental grouping in the
world committed to reducing barriers to trade and investment without requiring its
members to enter into legally binding obligations. APEC achieves its goals by promoting
dialogue and arriving at decisions on a consensus basis, giving equal weight to the views
of all members. APEC Member Economies report progress towards achieving free and
open trade and investment goals through Individual Action Plans (IAPs) and Collective
Action Plans (CAPs).
Host Economy
Every year one of the 21 APEC Member Economies plays host to APEC meetings and
serves as the APEC Chair. The APEC host economy is responsible for chairing the annual
Economic Leaders' Meeting, selected ministerial meetings, senior officials’ meetings, the
APEC Business Advisory Council and the APEC Study Centers Consortium. Up until
2009, the host has also filled the position of Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat.
Since 2010, the appointment of the Executive Director has been on a fixed-term basis of
three years, and will be open to candidates from all member economies.
Funding
APEC is not a donor organization. APEC activities are centrally funded by annual
contributions from APEC member economies presently totaling USD5 million. These
contributions are used to fund a Secretariat in Singapore and various projects which
support APEC's economic and trade goals. Member economies also provide voluntary
contributions to support projects that advance APEC's trade and investment liberalization
and facilitation goals and to meet capacity-building needs, especially for APEC
developing economies. In general, projects do the following:
• Relate to the priorities of APEC Economic Leaders and APEC Ministers
• Cover the interest of at least several APEC member economies
• Build capacity
• Improve economic efficiency
• Encourage the participation of the business sector, nongovernmental
institutions and women
The Project Database contains information about all APEC projects. Member economies
also provide considerable resources to assist the operation of APEC. These include the
secondment of professional staff to the Secretariat; the hosting of meetings; and partial
or full funding of some projects.
