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Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

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Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries or regions (styled 'member economies') to discuss the regional economy, cooperation, trade and investment. The membership is claimed to account for approximately 41% of the world's population, approximately 56% of world GDP and about 49% of world trade. The activities, including year-round meetings of the members' ministers, are coordinated by the APEC Secretariat.

The organization conducts the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (AELM), an annual summit attended by the heads of government of all APEC members except Chinese Taipei, which is represented by a ministerial-level official. The location of the summit rotates annually among the member economies, and a famous tradition involves the attending leaders dressing in a national costume of the host member. The most recent summit, APEC Australia 2007, was concluded in Sydney on September 9.

History

In January 1989, Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke called for more effective economic cooperation across the Pacific Rim region. This led to the first meeting of APEC in the Australian capital Canberra in November, chaired by Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Gareth Evans. Attended by political ministers from twelve countries, the meeting concluded with commitments for future annual meetings in Singapore and South Korea.

The initial proposal was opposed by countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which instead proposed the East Asia Economic Caucus which would exclude non-Asian countries such as the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The plan was opposed and strongly criticized by Japan and the United States.

The first APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting occurred in 1993 when US president Bill Clinton, after discussions with Australian prime minister Paul Keating, invited the heads of government from member economies to a summit on Blake Island. He believed it would help bring the stalled Uruguay Round of trade talks on track. At the summit, some leaders called for continued reduction of barriers to trade and investment, envisioning a community in the Asia-Pacific region that might promote prosperity through cooperation. The APEC Secretariat, based in Singapore, was established to coordinate the activities of the organization.

In the summit of 1994 in Bogor, APEC adopted the Bogor Goals that aimed to reduce trade tariffs to below five percent in the Asia-Pacific region, by 2010 for industrialized economies and by 2020 for developing economies. In 1995, APEC established a business advisory body named the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), comprised of three business executives from each member economy.

Member economies

APEC currently has 21 members, including most countries with a coastline on the Pacific Ocean. By convention, APEC uses the term member economy to refer to one of its members.

Member economy Date of accession
1989
1989
1989
1989
1989
1989
1989
1989
1989
1989
1989
1989
1991
1991
1991
1993
1993
1994
1998
1998
1998
has requested membership in APEC, and received initial support from the United States, Japan and Australia. Officials from the member economies are in the process of discussing whether to allow India to join. There is a concern among Western countries that India's entry might tilt the balance of power in APEC in favor of Asia.

In addition to India , , , , are among a dozen countries seeking membership in APEC by 2008. Colombia applied for APEC's membership as early as in 1995, but its bid was halted as the organization stopped accepting new members from 1993 to 1996, and the moratorium was further prolonged to 2007 due to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. has also been actively seeking a separate membership, citing the example of Hong Kong, but the request is opposed by the United States, which currently represents Guam.

APEC Business Advisory Council

Economic Leaders also nominate three representatives per economy to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

APEC annual 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 Chinese Taipei, which is represented by a ministerial-level official. The location of the summit is rotated annually among the members. As a tradition, the leaders attending the summit participate in a photo op in which they dress in a costume that reflects the culture of the host member.

The Deputy Executive Director is a diplomatic representative from the member economy that will host the following year's annual meeting.

Annual meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Date Host member Location Photo op fashion Web site
1st November 6–7, 1989 Canberra
2nd July 29–31, 1990 Singapore
3rd November 12–14, 1991 Republic of Korea Seoul
4th September 10–11, 1992 Bangkok
5th November 19–20, 1993 Seattle bombardier jackets
6th November 15, 1994 Bogor batik shirts
7th November 19, 1995 Osaka business suits
8th November 25, 1996 Manila and Subic barong shirts
9th November 24–25, 1997 Vancouver leather jackets
10th November 17–18, 1998 Kuala Lumpur batik shirts
11th September 12–13, 1999 Auckland sailing jackets
12th November 15–16, 2000 Brunei Darussalem Brunei Kain Tenunan shirts
13th October 20–21, 2001 Shanghai silk-embroided "Tangzhuang" jackets
14th October 26–27, 2002 Los Cabos guayabera shirts (m); huipíles (f)
15th October 20–21, 2003 Bangkok brocade shirts (m); brocade shawls (f)
16th November 20–21, 2004 Santiago chamantos
17th November 18–19, 2005 Busan hanboks
18th November 18–19, 2006 Hanoi áo dài
19th September 8–9, 2007 Sydney Drizabones and Akubra Hats
20th November 2008 Lima
21st November 2009 Singapore
22nd November 2010
23rd November 2011
24th November 2012

Summit developments

In 1997, the APEC summit 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.

At the 2001 summit 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 summit also endorsed the Shanghai Accord proposed by the United States, emphasizing the implementation of open markets, structural reform, and capacity building. As part of the accord, the summit committed to develop and implement APEC transparency standards, reduce trade transaction costs in the Asia-Pacific region by 5 percent over 5 years, and pursue trade liberalization policies relating to information technology goods and services.

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

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

The 2005 summit 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, centered on reducing agricultural trade barriers. APEC leaders at the summit urged the European Union to agree to reducing farm subsidies. Peaceful protests against APEC were staged in Busan, but the summit schedule was not affected.

At the summit held on November 19, 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 criticized 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 summit 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 protestors 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.

References

See also

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