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APEC is a cooperative effort of 21 countries in the Asia-Pacific region with the goal of improving free trade. Its members account for 41% of the world’s population, 49% of international trade, and 56% of global GDP. APEC works to reduce tariffs and remove other barriers to free trade, facilitate trade interactions, and enhance training and education in international trade. It meets annually to discuss evolving issues and is funded by a small annual contribution from each member country.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a cooperative effort of 21 countries with the common goal of improving free trade in this region. Founded in 1989 with 12 member countries in Canberra, Australia, APEC has made great strides in facilitating and improving trade between its member countries. In the first decade after its creation, member countries’ economies accounted for 70% of global economic growth. Its members are, in alphabetical order, 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, Republic of the Philippines, Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States of America and Vietnam.
The 21 members of APEC account for 41% of the world’s population, 49% of international trade and 56% of global gross domestic product (GDP). There is no treaty to sign, but APEC works by consensus and cooperation. It adheres to the “Bogor Goals”, established in 1994 in Bogor, Indonesia. These goals are to have free and open trade and increased foreign investment in member economies by 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing economies.
APEC works to establish anti-“protectionist” policies in member countries by reducing tariffs and removing other barriers to free trade. By pooling resources, member countries can share information and increase wealth for businesses and individuals. APEC benefits citizens of member countries by creating more job opportunities, cheaper goods and services, and increasing the ability to participate in the international market.
There are three main areas that APEC focuses on:
Trade and Investment Liberalization: In this area, APEC works to reduce tariffs and remove other obstacles to free trade.
Trade facilitation: In this area, the goal is to facilitate trade interactions between member countries by reducing the costs of trading activities, sharing trade information, and improving relations between importers and exporters.
Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH): This program includes opportunities for member countries to enhance training and education in international trade.
APEC has met annually since 1993 and, in addition to its objectives, discusses evolving issues such as women in APEC, terrorism, transparency standards, corruption and pandemics that potentially affect trade. Each year, one member country hosts the meeting. APEC is funded by a relatively small annual contribution from each member country, totaling approximately 3.38 million US dollars (USD) annually. These funds pay for APEC programs and a small secretariat located in Singapore. The Secretariat’s leadership rotates, depending on who hosts the meeting that year: the Executive Director is from that year’s host country, and the Deputy Executive Director is from the following year’s host country.
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