Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
Overview
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum was established in 1989 and has become the pre-eminent economic forum in the Asia-Pacific. Its primary purpose is to facilitate economic growth and prosperity in the region, with the vision of creating a seamless regional economy. APEC pursues these objectives through trade and investment liberalisation, business facilitation, and economic and technical cooperation.
APEC aims to strengthen regional economic integration by removing impediments to trade and investment “at the border”, enhancing supply chain connectivity "across the border" and improving the business environment "behind the border". It endeavours to improve the operating environment for business by reducing the cost of cross-border trade, improving access to trade information and simplifying regulatory and administrative processes. APEC also assists member economies build the institutional capacity to implement and take advantage of the benefits of trade and investment reform. APEC supports the multilateral trade negotiations underway in the WTO, and complements the goals of the G-20 Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Private sector engagement is central to APEC's success. The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), established in 1995, represents the interests of business in APEC. ABAC is composed of up to three members from each of the 21 member economies, with business representatives appointed by APEC Leaders. The annual APEC CEO Summit and regular Industry Dialogues also provide opportunities for regional business leaders to interact with APEC Leaders and address key issues affecting business in the region.
APEC operates on the basis of non-binding commitments and open dialogue. Decisions made within APEC are reached by consensus and commitments are undertaken on a voluntary basis.
The APEC Secretariat is based in Singapore. It provides coordination, technical and advisory support as well as information management, communications and public outreach services. The Secretariat is headed by a fixed-term Executive Director, appointed for a period of three years. The Secretariat is also home to the APEC Policy Support Unit (PSU). The PSU assists APEC's deliberations by providing research, analysis and policy support. More information on APEC, including its structure, committees and activities, can be found on APEC's official website.
APEC members
APEC has 21 member economies:
- Australia
- Brunei Darussalam
- Canada
- Chile
- People's Republic of China
- Hong Kong, China
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Republic of Korea
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Papua New Guinea
- Peru
- The Republic of the Philippines
- The Russian Federation
- Singapore
- Chinese Taipei
- Thailand
- United States of America, and
- Viet Nam.
The United States of America hosted APEC in 2011. The Russian Federation will host in 2012 and Indonesia in 2013.
Australia in APEC
Australia was a founding member of the APEC forum in 1989 and has been active in helping APEC achieve its current status. Australia has helped advance APEC's core work streams of regional economic integration, structural reform and targeted capacity building through its involvement across more than 30 APEC forums (including committees, working groups and sub-forums). Australia played host to APEC in 2007.
APEC makes an important contribution to the promotion of open trade and investment, economic development and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and Australia has benefited from APEC's dynamism. Significant progress has been made by Australia and the region towards achieving the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2020. APEC's 21 member economies account for over half of global GDP and are home to more than 2.7 billion people. APEC partners account for over two-thirds of Australia's total trade in goods and services. Total two-way trade between Australia and APEC economies grew from A$121 billion in 1994 to A$391 billion in 2010, an average annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent. Over the same period, investment into Australia by APEC economies rose by 10.6 per cent per year to reach A$859 billion in 2010, with outward Australian investment into the APEC region growing by an average of 15.8 per cent per year to peak at A$662 billion in 20101.
Upcoming APEC meetings
| Date | Location | Type of meeting |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Jan – 19 Feb 2012 | Moscow, Russia | First Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM1) and Related Meetings |
| 16 – 17 Feb 2012 | Yaroslavl, Russia | Finance Deputies' and Central Bank Deputies' Meetings |
| 20 May – 5 Jun 2012 | Kazan, Russia | Second Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM2) and Related Meetings |
| 21 – 23 May 2012 | Gyeongju, Korea | 5th APEC Education Ministerial Meeting (AEMM5) |
| 4–5 Jun 2012 | Kazan, Russia | Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting |
| 24–25 Jun 2012 | St. Petersburg, Russia | 10th Energy Ministerial Meeting |
| 27–28 Jun 2012 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Mining |
| 28–29 Jun 2012 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Senior Finance Officials Meeting |
| 16–18 Jul 2012 | Khabarovsk, Russia | Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Environment |
| 23–24 Jul 2012 | Khabarovsk, Russia | Tourism Ministerial Meeting |
| 3 Aug 2012 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting |
| 6–8 Aug 2012 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Telecommunications and Information Ministerial Meeting |
| 28 Aug 2012 | Moscow, Russia | Senior Finance Officials' Meeting |
| 29 Aug 2012 | Moscow, Russia | Finance and Central Bank Deputies' Meetings |
| 30 Aug 2012 | Moscow, Russia | Finance Ministerial Meeting |
| 2–9 Sep 2012 | Vladivostok, Russia | APEC 2012 Leaders Week |
A full calendar of APEC events is available on APEC's official website.
Declarations and statements by APEC leaders and ministers
- The 19th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting Declaration, Honolulu, 12-13 November 2011
- APEC Ministerial Meeting Statement, Honolulu, 11 November 2011
- APEC Ministers’ Statement on the WTO, the Doha Development Agenda Negotiations, and Resisting Protectionism, Honolulu, 11 November 2011
- APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Disaster Resiliency, Honolulu, 11 November 2011
- APEC High Level Policy Dialogue on Open Governance and Economic Growth, Honolulu, 11 November 2011
These can be viewed at APEC's official website.
1. For years 1990 to 2000, levels of investment are at year ended 30 of June, from 2001 levels of investment are at year ended 31 December.
From 2001 the ABS went to calendar year reporting. As a result data prior to 2001 was not revised to incorporate the latest revisions from the ABS Survey of International Investment. Therefore care needs to be exercised in time series movements in these series
