APEC

PRESENTED BY
: Vaishali Sharma
Lecturer MBA-IBE
 APEC was established in 1989 to further enhance economic
growth and prosperity for the region and to strengthen the
Asia-Pacific community.
Mission Statement

  APEC is the premier Asia-Pacific economic forum. Primary

goal is to support sustainable economic growth and
prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

 United in our drive to build a dynamic and harmonious Asia-
Pacific community by championing free and open trade and
investment, promoting and accelerating regional economic
integration, encouraging economic and technical
cooperation, enhancing human security, and facilitating a
favorable and sustainable business environment.

 Initiatives turn policy goals into concrete results and
agreements into tangible benefits.

Member Countries
 APEC has 21 members - referred to as "Member Economies" -
which account for approximately 40.5%1 of the world's
population, approximately 54.2%1 of world GDP and about
43.7%2 of world trade.

 APEC's 21 Member Economies are 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;
The Republic of the Philippines; The Russian Federation;
Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of
America; Viet Nam.
Objectives
Developing strengthening the multilateral trading
system


Increasing the interdependence and prosperity of
member economies


Promoting sustainable economic growth in the
region.
 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, is the premier
forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade
and investment in the Asia-Pacific region .


 APEC is the only inter governmental grouping in the world

operating on the basis of non-binding commitments, open
dialogue and equal respect for the views of all participants.

 Unlike the WTO or other multilateral trade bodies, APEC has
no treaty obligations required of its participants. Decisions
made within APEC are reached by consensus and
commitments are undertaken on a voluntary basis.
Principles
 Comprehensiveness : Addressing all impediments to
achieving the long term goal of free & open trade.

 WTO consistency : APEC member economies endeavor to
have comparable trade & consistent with the principles of
the WTO.

 Non-Discrimination : Reductions in barriers to trade achieved
through APEC are available to all the APEC member
economies & non- economic economies.

 Comparability APEC members economies endeavor to have
comparable trade & investment liberalisation and
facilitation , taking into account the general levels achieved
by each APEC economy,
 Transparency : The laws , regulations and administrative
procedures in all APEC member economies which affect the
flow of goods , services and capital among APEC member
economies are transparent.

 Standstill : APEC member economies do not take measures
which have the effect of increasing levels of protection.

 Flexibility : APEC member economies deal with the
liberalisation and facilitation process in a flexible manner,
taking into account differing levels of economic
development.
 The Asia-Pacific region has consistently been the most
economically dynamic region in the world. Since APEC's
inception in 1989, APEC's total trade has grown 395%,
significantly outpacing the rest of the world. In the same
period, GDP (in purchasing power parity terms) in the APEC
region has tripled, while GDP in the rest of the world has
less than doubled.


 APEC's work under its three main pillars of activity, Trade and
Investment Liberalisation, Business Facilitation and
Economic and Technical Cooperation, has helped drive this
economic growth and improve employment opportunities
and standards of living for the citizens of the region.

Trade and Investment
Liberalisation
 APEC is the premier forum for trade and investment
liberalisation in the Asia-Pacific and has set targets dates
for "free and open trade": no later than the year 2010 for
industrialised economies, and 2020 for developing
economies..

 When APEC was established in 1989 average trade barriers in
the region stood at 16.9%; by 2004 barriers had been
reduced by approximately 70% to 5.5%.

 As a consequence, intra-APEC merchandise trade (exports
and imports) has grown from US$1.7 trillion in 1989 to
US$8.44 trillion in 2007 - an average increase of 8.5% per
year; and merchandise trade within the region accounted
for 67% of APEC's total merchandise trade in 2007.



APEC is also pursuing trade and investment

liberalisation through its
Regional Economic Integration agenda.
Progress to date includes:


Investigating the prospects of and options for

a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.



Business Facilitation
As a result of the APEC
Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP I) the cost of
business transactions across the region was
reduced by 5% between 2002 and 2006.


A second trade facilitation action plan (TFAP II),

aims to reduce transaction costs by a further 5%
between 2007 and 2010.


APEC initiatives that help facilitate trade include:

 The introduction of electronic/paperless systems
by all member economies, covering the payment
of duties, and customs and trade-related
document processing.
 In 2008, a groundbreaking Investment Facilitation Action Plan was
endorsed; it aims to improve the investment environment in
Member Economies.

 The APEC Privacy Framework provides guidance and direction to
both APEC Member Economies and businesses on implementing
information privacy protection policies and procedures. By
facilitating information flows it will facilitate trade and e-
commerce.

 The APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) provides substantial time and
cost savings to business people and facilitates their travel in the
region, by allowing visa free travel and express lane transit at
airports in participating economies.

 APEC is also removing behind-the-border barriers to trade through
its Structural Reform agenda, which focuses on reforming
domestic policies and institutions that adversely affect the
operation of markets, and the capacity of businesses to access
Economic and Technical
Cooperation
 APEC's Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH) activities
are designed to build capacity and skills in APEC Member
Economies at both the individual and institutional level, to enable
them to participate more fully in the regional economy and the
liberalisation process.


 Since APEC first began to undertake capacity building work in 1993,

more than 1200 projects have been initiated; and in 2008, APEC
was implementing a total of 212 capacity building projects with a
total value of US$13.5m.


 A particular focus has been reducing the digital divide between

developed and developing economies:
 In 2000, APEC set a goal of tripling internet usage in the
region and that goal has now been achieved, as recognised
by the
2008 APEC Ministerial Meeting on the Telecommunications and In
Reference
http://www.apec.org/