Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

History

The initial inspiration for APEC came when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)'s series of post-ministerial conferences, launched in the mid-1980s, had demonstrated the feasibility and value of regular conferences among ministerial-level representatives of both developed and developing economies. By 1986, the post-ministerial conferences had expanded to embrace 12 members (the then six members of ASEAN and its six dialogue partners). The developments led Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke to believe in the necessity of region-wide co-operation on economic matters. In January 1989, Bob Hawke called for more effective economic co-operation 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 to hold future annual meetings in Singapore and South Korea. Ten months later, representatives of 12 Asia-Pacific economies met in Canberra, Australia, to establish APEC. The APEC Secretariat, based in Singapore, was established to co-ordinate the activities of the organisation. The organization was initially an Australian initiative intended to secure greater Japanese engagement in the region, but it quickly evolved into a forum for broader economic cooperation. Its early years were characterized by a dynamic tension between members favoring a structured trade agreement and those, like the United States, who preferred a looser, more consultative approach.

During the 1994 meeting in Bogor, Indonesia, APEC leaders adopted the Bogor Goals, which aimed for free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for industrialised economies and by 2020 for developing economies. During the November 1995 Ministerial Meeting in Osaka, Japan, a business advisory body named the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) composed of three business executives from each member-country was agreed to be established in 1996.

In April 2001, APEC, in collaboration with five other international organisations (Eurostat, International Energy Agency, , Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the United Nations Statistics Division) launched the Joint Oil Data Exercise, which in 2005 became the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI).

Meeting locations

The location of the annual meeting rotates among the members.

Member economies

Currently, APEC has 21 members. The criterion for membership, however, is that each member must be an independent economic entity, rather than a sovereign 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.

Leaders

Current leaders

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Possible enlargement

India has requested membership in APEC, and received initial support from the United States, South Korea, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. Officials have decided not to allow India to join for various reasons, including the fact that India does not border the Pacific Ocean, which all current members do. However, India was invited to be an observer for the first time in November 2011.

Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Macau, Mongolia, Laos, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama, are among a dozen other economies that have applied for membership in APEC. Colombia applied for APEC's membership as early as in 1995, but its bid was halted as the organisation stopped accepting new members from 1993 to 1996, and the moratorium was further prolonged to 2007 due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Business facilitation

As a regional organization, APEC has always played a leading role in the area of reform initiatives in the area of business facilitation. The APEC Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAPI) has contributed to a reduction of 6% in the cost of business transactions across the region between 2002 and 2006. According to APEC's projections, the cost of conducting business transactions will be reduced by another 5% between 2007 and 2010. To this end, a new Trade Facilitation Action Plan has been endorsed. According to a 2008 research brief published by the World Bank as part of its Trade Costs and Facilitation Project, increasing transparency in the region's trading system is critical if APEC is to meet its Bogor Goal targets. The APEC Business Travel Card, a travel document for visa-free business travel within the region is one of the concrete measures to facilitate business. In May 2010 Russia joined the scheme, thus completing the circle.

Proposed FTAAP

APEC first formally started discussing the concept of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) at its summit in 2006 in Hanoi. However, the proposal for such an area has been around since at least 1966 and Japanese economist 's proposal for a Pacific Free Trade agreement. While it gained little traction, the idea led to the formation of Pacific Trade and Development Conference and then the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council in 1980 and then APEC in 1989.

In the wake of the 2006 summit, economist C. Fred Bergsten advocated a Free Trade Agreement of Asia-Pacific, including the United States amongst the proposed parties to any agreement at that time. His ideas convinced the APEC Business Advisory Council to support this concept. Relatedly, ASEAN and existing free trade agreement (FTA) partners negotiated the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), not officially including Russia. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) without China or Russia involved became the US-promoted trade negotiation in the region. At the APEC summit in Beijing in 2014, the three plans were all in discussion. President Obama hosted a TPP meeting at the US Embassy in Beijing in advance of the APEC gathering.

The proposal for a FTAAP arose due to the lack of progress in the Doha round of World Trade Organization negotiations, and as a way to overcome the "noodle bowl" effect created by overlapping and conflicting elements of the copious free trade agreements – there were approximately 60 free trade agreements in 2007, with an additional 117 in the process of negotiation in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. In 2012, ASEAN+6 countries alone had 339 free trade agreements – many of which were bilateral.

The FTAAP is more ambitious in scope than the Doha round, which limits itself to reducing trade restrictions. The FTAAP would create a free trade zone that would considerably expand commerce and economic growth in the region. The economic expansion and growth in trade could exceed the expectations of other regional free trade areas such as the ASEAN Plus Three (ASEAN + China, South Korea and Japan). Some criticisms include that the diversion of trade within APEC members would create trade imbalances, market conflicts and complications with nations of other regions. The development of the FTAAP is expected to take many years, involving essential studies, evaluations and negotiations between member economies. It is also affected by the absence of political will and popular agitations and lobbying against free trade in domestic politics.

At the 2014 APEC summit in Beijing, APEC leaders agreed to launch "a collective strategic study" on the FTAAP and instruct officials to undertake the study, consult stakeholders and report the result by the end of 2016. APEC Executive Director Alan Bollard revealed in the Elite Talk show that FTAAP will be APEC's big goal out into the future.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership included 12 of the 21 APEC members and had provisions for the accession of other APEC members, five of which expressed interest in membership.

APEC Study Centre Consortium

In 1993, APEC Leaders decided to establish a network of APEC Study Centres (APCs) among universities and research institutions in member economies. The purpose is to foster cooperation among tertiary and research institutes of member economies, thus having better academic collaboration on key regional economic challenges. To encourage independence from the APEC conference, the APCs are funded independently and choose their own research topics.

As of December 2018, there are 70 APCs among the member economies. An annual conference is usually held in the host economy for that year.

APEC Business Advisory Council

The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) was created by the APEC Economic Leaders in November 1995 with the aim of providing advice to the APEC Economic Leaders on ways to achieve the Bogor Goals and other specific business sector priorities, and to provide the business perspective on specific areas of co-operation.

Each economy nominates up to three members from the private sector to ABAC. These business leaders represent a wide range of industry sectors. ABAC provides an annual report to APEC Economic Leaders containing recommendations to improve the business and investment environment in the Asia-Pacific region, and outlining business views about priority regional issues. ABAC is also the only non-governmental organisation that is on the official agenda of the APEC Economic Leader's Meeting.

APEC Economic Leaders' Meetings

Annual APEC economic leaders' meetings

Since its formation in 1989, APEC has held annual meetings with representatives from all member economies. The first four annual meetings were attended by ministerial-level officials. Beginning in 1993, the annual meetings are named APEC Economic Leaders' Meetings and are attended by the heads of government from all member economies except Taiwan, which is represented by a ministerial-level official.

Meeting developments

In 1997, the APEC meeting was held in Vancouver. Controversy arose after officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police used pepper spray against protesters. The protesters objected to the presence of autocratic leaders such as Indonesian president Suharto. |access-date=6 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930060927/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0011768 |archive-date=30 September 2007 |access-date = 6 September 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061013060134/http://www.varsity.utoronto.ca/archives/118/nov27/news/APEC.html |archive-date = 13 October 2006 |url-status = dead |access-date = 6 September 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061013050320/http://www.varsity.utoronto.ca/archives/118/jan06/news/APEC.html |archive-date = 13 October 2006 |url-status = dead |access-date = 6 September 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061005104658/http://www.bccla.org/pressreleases/97apec.html |archive-date = 5 October 2006 |url-status = dead |access-date=6 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005103427/http://www.bccla.org/pressreleases/97jonesarrested.html |archive-date=5 October 2006 |url-status=dead

At the 2001 Leaders' Meeting in Shanghai, APEC leaders pushed for a new round of trade negotiations and support for a program of trade capacity-building assistance, leading to the launch of the Doha Development Agenda a few weeks later. The meeting also endorsed the Shanghai Accord proposed by the United States, emphasising the implementation of open markets, structural reform, and capacity building. As part of the accord, the meeting committed to develop and implement APEC transparency standards, reduce trade transaction costs in the Asia-Pacific region by five percent over five years, and pursue trade liberalisation policies relating to information technology goods and services.

In 2003, Jemaah Islamiah leader Riduan Isamuddin had planned to attack the APEC Leaders Meeting to be held in Bangkok in October. He was captured in the city of Ayutthaya, Thailand by Thai police on 11 August 2003, before he could finish planning the attack.

Chile became the first South American nation to host the Leaders' Meeting in 2004. The agenda of that year was focused on terrorism and commerce, small and medium enterprise development, and contemplation of free agreements and regional trade agreements.

The 2005 Leaders' Meeting was held in Busan, South Korea. The meeting focused on the Doha round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations, leading up to the WTO Ministerial Conference of 2005 held in Hong Kong in December. Weeks earlier, trade negotiations in Paris were held between several WTO members, including the United States and the European Union, centred on reducing agricultural trade barriers. APEC leaders at the summit urged the European Union to agree to reduce farm subsidies. In a continuation of the climate information sharing initiative established by the APEC Climate Network working group, it was decided by the leaders to install the APEC Climate Center in Busan. Peaceful protests against APEC were staged in Busan, but the meeting schedule was not affected.

At the Leaders' Meeting held on 19 November 2006 in Hanoi, APEC leaders called for a new start to global free-trade negotiations while condemning terrorism and other threats to security. APEC also criticised North Korea for conducting a nuclear test and a missile test launch that year, urging the country to take "concrete and effective" steps toward nuclear disarmament. Concerns about nuclear proliferation in the region was discussed in addition to economic topics. The United States and Russia signed an agreement as part of Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization.

The APEC Australia 2007 Leaders' Meeting was held in Sydney from 2–9 September 2007. The political leaders agreed to an "aspirational goal" of a 25% reduction of energy intensity correlative with economic development. Extreme security measures including airborne sharpshooters and extensive steel-and-concrete barricades were deployed against anticipated protesters and potential terrorists. However, protest activities were peaceful and the security envelope was penetrated with ease by a spoof diplomatic motorcade manned by members of the Australian television program The Chaser, one of whom was dressed to resemble the Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The APEC Chile 2019, originally to be held 16–17 November 2019 in Chile, was cancelled due to ongoing protests by sections of its population over inequality, the cost of living and police repression.

The 2023 APEC meeting was notable for a lack of consensuses of group members on their stance over the Russia–Ukraine and Gaza conflicts as well as consensus for WTO reforms. The meeting between Biden and Xi was also seen as significant in terms of reducing tensions between the US and China.

APEC leaders' group photo

At the end of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, the leaders gather for the official APEC Leaders' Family Photo. A tradition has the leaders dressing to reflect the culture of the host member. The tradition dates to the first such meeting in 1993 when then-U.S. President Bill Clinton insisted on informal attire and gave the leaders leather bomber jackets. At the 2010 meeting, Japan had the leaders dress in smart casual rather than the traditional kimono. Similarly, when Honolulu was selected in 2009 as the site for the 2011 APEC meeting, U.S. President Barack Obama joked that he looked forward to seeing the leaders dressed in "flowered shirts and grass skirts". After viewing previous photos, and concerned that having the leaders dress in aloha shirts might give the wrong impression during a period of economic austerity, Obama instead decided it might be time to end the tradition. Leaders were given a specially designed aloha shirt as a gift but were not expected to wear it for the photo. Leaders in Bali, Indonesia at the 2013 conference wore a batik outfit; in China 2014 Tang suit jackets; in the Philippines 2015 barong tagalogs; in Peru 2016 vicuña wool shawls; in 2017 Vietnamese silk shirts.

Part of the point of the photo and of this gallery is THE WEARING OF HOST NATION CLOTHING. Please do not substitute pictures in business suits if there is a host nation clothing picture available

File:Photograph of President William Jefferson Clinton and Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on the Tyee Ferry on Blake Island in Seattle, Washington - NARA - 5720209.jpg|APEC United States 1993 File:Vladimir Putin at APEC Summit in Brunei 15-16 November-9.jpg|APEC Brunei 2000 File:Vladimir Putin at APEC Summit in China 19-21 October 2001-14.jpg|APEC China 2001 File:Vladimir Putin at APEC Summit in Thailand 19-21 October 2003-16.jpg|APEC Thailand 2003 File:Vladimir Putin at APEC Summit in Chile 20-21 November 2004-3.jpg|APEC Chile 2004 File:Vladimir Putin at APEC Summit in South Korea 18-19 November 2005-8.jpg|APEC South Korea 2005 File:Vladimir Putin at APEC Summit in Vietnam 18-19 November 2006-11.jpg|APEC Vietnam 2006 File:Vladimir Putin at APEC Summit in Australia 7-9 September 2007-3.jpg|APEC Australia 2007 File:Dmitry Medvedev at APEC Summit in Peru 22-23 November 2008-2.jpg|APEC Peru 2008 File:Singapore APEC 2009 leaders.jpg|APEC Singapore 2009 File:13.11.2010 Gira a Asia.jpg|APEC Japan 2010 File:APEC Hawaii.jpg|APEC United States 2011 File:APEC Russia 2012.jpg|APEC Russia 2012 File:Apec 2013.jpg|APEC Indonesia 2013 File:APEC Summit China 2014.jpg|APEC China 2014 File:APEC Philippines 2015 delegates.jpg|APEC Philippines 2015 File:Foto Oficial APEC 2016 (LIMA PERU).jpg|APEC Peru 2016 File:APEC Vietnam 2017 Leaders Meeting.jpg|APEC Vietnam 2017 File:APEC Leaders Photo - Papua New Guinea 2018.jpg|APEC Papua New Guinea 2018 File:President Joe Biden participates in a family photo with APEC leaders and guest leaders on November 16, 2023 in San Francisco, California.jpg|APEC United States 2023 File:APEC Peru 2024 family photo.jpg|APEC Peru 2024 File:20251101 Sanae Takaichi at the APEC South Korea 2025 (1).jpg|APEC South Korea 2025 Part of the point of the photo and of this gallery is THE WEARING OF HOST NATION CLOTHING. Please do not substitute pictures in business suits if there is a host nation clothing picture available

APEC Summits

• Australia APEC Australia 1989
• Singapore APEC Singapore 1990
• South Korea APEC South Korea 1991
• Thailand APEC Thailand 1992
• United States APEC United States 1993
• Indonesia APEC Indonesia 1994
• Japan APEC Japan 1995
• Philippines APEC Philippines 1996
• Canada APEC Canada 1997
• Malaysia APEC Malaysia 1998
• New Zealand APEC New Zealand 1999
• Brunei APEC Brunei 2000
• China APEC China 2001
• Mexico APEC Mexico 2002
• Thailand APEC Thailand 2003
• Chile APEC Chile 2004
• South Korea APEC South Korea 2005
• Vietnam APEC Vietnam 2006
• Australia APEC Australia 2007
• Peru APEC Peru 2008
• Singapore APEC Singapore 2009
• Japan APEC Japan 2010
• United States APEC United States 2011
• Russia APEC Russia 2012
• Indonesia APEC Indonesia 2013
• China APEC China 2014
• Philippines APEC Philippines 2015
• Peru APEC Peru 2016
• Vietnam APEC Vietnam 2017
• Papua New Guinea APEC Papua New Guinea 2018
• Chile APEC Chile 2019
• Malaysia APEC Malaysia 2020
• New Zealand APEC New Zealand 2021
• Thailand APEC Thailand 2022
• United States APEC United States 2023
• Peru APEC Peru 2024
• South Korea APEC South Korea 2025
• China APEC China 2026
• Vietnam APEC Vietnam 2027
• Mexico APEC Mexico 2028
• Russia APEC Russia 2029
• Singapore APEC Singapore 2030
• Japan APEC Japan 2031
• Chile APEC Chile 2032
• Australia APEC Australia 2033
• Peru APEC Peru 2034
• Indonesia APEC Indonesia 2035

Criticism

APEC has been criticised for promoting free trade agreements that would impose restrictions on national and local laws, which regulate and ensure labour rights, environmental protection and safe and affordable access to medicine. According to the organisation, it is "the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region" established to "further enhance economic growth and prosperity for the region and to strengthen the Asia-Pacific community". The effectiveness and fairness of its role has been questioned, especially from the viewpoints of European countries that cannot take part in APEC and Pacific Island nations that cannot participate but stand to be affected by its decisions.

Notes

References

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