About APEC
Australia was a founding member of APEC in 1989.
APEC was formed to encourage a growing and prosperous regional economy through:
- trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation – at the border, across the border and behind the border
- reduced costs of cross-border trade to assist businesses
- economic and technical cooperation
- exchanges of best practice information on trade and investment
- simplified regulatory and administrative processes
- improved institutional capacity to implement and take advantage of the benefits of trade and investment reform.
APEC decisions are reached by consensus, and commitments are made on a voluntary basis.
APEC's role in trade
APEC has been a success story on regional economic integration, acting as an incubator for new trade policy approaches. APEC works to combat protectionist pressures. These activities are increasingly important as we work towards economic recovery from COVID-19. We do so by:
- supporting services integration
- working towards a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific
- delivering strong advocacy for global value chains and open markets.
Recent Activities
-
Ministers Responsible for Trade Virtual Meeting Joint Statement 2020 (25 July 2020)
- Statement on COVID-19 by APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (5 May 2020)
APEC members
APEC's 21 member economies are:
- Australia
- Brunei Darussalam
- Canada
- Chile
- Chinese Taipei
- Hong Kong, China
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Papua New Guinea
- People's Republic of China
- Peru
- Republic of Korea
- The Republic of the Philippines
- The Russian Federation
- Singapore
- Thailand
- United States of America
- Vietnam.
Australia in APEC
As a founding member, Australia is involved in more than 30 APEC sub-forums and most recently hosted APEC in 2007.
Through APEC, Australia works to drive economic growth within the region by promoting the advancement of regional economic integration and making progress on achieving the Bogor Goals [PDF] of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2020.
Australia supports economic cooperation and capacity-building activities to benefit APEC developing economies by:
- funding projects (managed by the APEC Secretariat) that target APEC priorities including supply chain connectivity and structural reform
- supporting APEC economic policy research and analysis
- supporting project management reforms within the APEC Secretariat to improve APEC effectiveness.
APEC Study Centre Consortium (ASCC)
The APEC Study Centre Consortium (ASCC) is a group of more than 50 institutions undertaking research and academic discussions to support APEC goals for regional economic integration. Australia has two APEC Study Centres:
- APEC Study Centre – Griffith University, Queensland
- APEC Study Centre – RMIT, Victoria.
Hosting APEC
Each year a different member economy hosts the major APEC meetings. This years and future hosting economies are:
- 2020 – Malaysia
- 2021 – New Zealand
- 2022 – Thailand
APEC and business
The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) was formed in 1995. Each of the 21 member economies has three business representatives appointed by APEC Leaders. The annual APEC CEO Summit and regular events give APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) members opportunities to provide recommendations to APEC Leaders on key regional issues.
ABAC reports
- Inclusive and Collaborative Growth in the Digital Era – Report to APEC Leaders 2019 [PDF]
- Digitization and Innovation: Advancing Social Harmony – Report to APEC Leaders 2018 [PDF]
- Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future – Report to APEC Economic Leaders [PDF]
- Previous ABAC reports
Key publications
Resources
- APEC Business Travel Card Scheme
- Australian Tariffs and Rules of Origin for APEC Economies – an APEC WebTR initiative
- APEC Trade Repository
- APEC Virtual Knowledge Centre on Services
- Media releases by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment
- Handbook on Obligations in International Investment Treaties