Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Australia
The APEC Secretariat
Unlike other multilateral bodies, APEC is not supported by a large bureaucracy. APEC Secretariat, located in Singapore, comprises 21 Program Directors, seconded from the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministries of APEC member economies, and 20 locally hired about 27 permanent staff. An Executive Director, an Ambassador seconded from that year's APEC host, heads the Secretariat. He or she is assisted by the Deputy Executive Director (from the following year's APEC host) who becomes the Executive Director when the new APEC host takes over.
The Secretariat works under the direction of the APEC Senior Officials and is the core support mechanism for the APEC process. It provides advisory, operational and logistical/technical services to member economies and APEC forums. The Secretariat advises working groups on the design of APEC projects, manages project funding, and evaluates the projects after they are completed. It also maintains the APEC website, library, archives and databases, produces APEC publications and liaises with the media.