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Context

• S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen shakes hands with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng during a bilateral meeting ahead of a U.S.-hosted APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Summit.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

• The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a regional economic forum established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific.
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
• Aim: APEC's 21 members aim to create greater prosperity for the people of the region by promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative, and secure growth and by accelerating regional economic integration.
• Following the success of ASEAN's series of post-ministerial conferences launched in the mid-1980s, APEC started in 1989, in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional trade blocs in other parts of the world.
• It aimed to establish new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe.
• Headquartered in Singapore, APEC is recognized as one of the highest-level multilateral blocs and oldest forums in the Asia-Pacific region and exerts significant global influence.
• APEC's 21 member economies are:
  • Australia
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Canada
  • Chile
  • Chinese Taipei
  • Hong Kong, China
  • Indonesia
  • Japan
  • Malaysia
  • Mexico
  • New Zealand
  • Papua New Guinea
  • People's Republic of China
  • Peru
  • Republic of Korea
  • The Republic of the Philippines
  • The Russian Federation
  • Singapore
  • Thailand
  • United States of America
  • Vietnam
• APEC was formed to encourage a growing and prosperous regional economy through:
  • trade and investment liberalization and facilitation – at the border, across the border and behind the border
  • reduced costs of cross-border trade to assist businesses
  • economic and technical cooperation
  • exchanges of best practice information on trade and investment
  • simplified regulatory and administrative processes
  • improved institutional capacity to implement and take advantage of the benefits of trade and investment reform.

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