Member Economies

* Australia * Brunei Darussalam * Canada * Chile * People's Republic of China * The Republic of the Philippines * The Russian Federation * United States of America * Malaysia * Mexico * New Zealand * Papua New Guinea * Peru * Hong Kong, China * Japan * Indonesia

* Chinese Taipei
* Republic of Korea

* Singapore
* Viet Nam

History of APEC

APEC begins as an informal Ministerial-level dialogue group in Canberra, Australia in 1989. It is a 21 member economic forum at present.

Founding members are

Australia, New Zealand 6 ASEAN economies Japan and South Korea Canada and the United States Mexico &

Later the co-operation expanded to China, Taiwan, & Hong Kong in1991 Papua New Guinea in 1993 ,Chile (1994 ) , Russia, Vietnam, Peru in 1998.

India, Mangolia, Pakistan, Laos, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama and are among a dozen countries seeking membership in APEC.

Ecuador

Mission and Vision

To support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in Asia-Pacific region. To build a dynamic and harmonious Asia-Pacific community. Decrease number of obstacles in trade and also reduce tariffs across APEC nations. To encourage the flow of goods, services, capital, and technology. To develop and strengthen the multilateral trading system.

APEC STRUCTURE

APEC Secretariat

APEC secretariat operates as the core support mechanism for the APEC process.

It provides coordination, technical and advisory support as well as information management,

communications and public outreach services.

It performs a central project management role It is based in Singapore The APEC Secretariat is headed by an Executive Director and a Deputy Executive Director Muhamad Noor Yacob is the present Executive Director

THREE PILLARS
Three specific areas crucial to achieving the Bogor Goals:

Trade and investment liberalization

Business facilitation

Economic and technical cooperation

HOW APEC OPERATES

APEC operates as a cooperative, multilateral economic and trade forum. It is a voluntary association in which participants do not cede powers of regulation or enforcement to a supra-national institution;

Every year one of the 21 member economies plays host to APEC meetings,

Serves as the APEC Chair Chairs the annual economic Leaders meeting & ministerial Meetings

Fills Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat.

CONT ..

Member Economies take individual and collective actions to open their markets and promote economic growth

Activities are centrally funded by small annual contributions from member Economies Member economies provide considerable resources to assist in the operations APECs project database contain all project related information

STRENGTHS OF APEC

A supporter of the of the multilateral trade negotiations, apply pressure to key

countries, suggest visionary initiatives and monitor compliances.

APEC has considerable experience in the reform process and can act as a model or demonstration to the rest of the world.

APEC is a large group of countries that could be extremely influential if adopted a common approach and joint bargaining objectives.

WEAKNESSES OF APEC

Absence of priorities- The effort in trade reform within APEC has been diffused across too many areas and there is need for more focus.

Shortfalls in member commitments- Many countries have gone no further than their existing pledges.

Weak evaluation procedures- there is lack of outside scrutiny of individual members progress in implementing reforms

Dearth of specific APEC incentives- APEC operates by consensus and there is no mechanism for enforcing group decisions.

conclusion
Economic co-operation in the Asia Pacific is facing many challenges, but all of these can be met. APEC is the only international organisation which brings together the increasingly important East Asian economies with their major trading partners across the Pacific, so it will remain relevant alongside the intra-East Asian co-operation which can be expected to evolve. APECs regular meetings of senior regional officials, ministers and leaders provide valuable channels of communications. These make it more likely that policy formation in all Asia Pacific economies will be better informed by developments elsewhere in the region and policy-makers are more likely to choose options which facilitate regional integration and avoid needless adverse side effects on other economies. In particular, the annual meetings of APEC leaders provide a regular forum to identify new opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperative arrangements. These encounters can also defuse potential tensions over trade or investment relations, since they are more likely to be considered in the context of overall relations, political as well as economic. The experience of APECs first decade has confirmed that its participants, particularly from East Asia, continue to have no interest in ceding powers of regulation or enforcement to any new regional organisation. APEC will remain a voluntary process, which helps its members to seize opportunities to realise mutual benefits, rather than expecting them to act against their perceived self-interest.