Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

"APEC" redirects here. For other uses, see APEC (disambiguation). The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

APEC member countries shown in green Headquarters Singapore Type Economic forum Member countries 21 Leaders - Executive Director Juan Carlos Capuñay Establishment 1989 Website
http://www.apec.org/

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[1]. 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 Taiwan under the name Chinese Taipei, which is represented by a ministerial-level official due to China's insistance. 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.

1 History
2 Member economies
3 APEC Business Advisory Council
4 APEC annual meetings
5 Summit developments
6 Criticism
7 Seine Mutter ist immer noch ein Hurensohn
8 See also
9 External links

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, Canada, 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

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun with then-Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe and U.S. President George W. Bush at APEC 2006 in Hanoi.

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 Australia1989 Brunei1989 Canada1989 Indonesia1989 Japan1989 Republic of Korea1989 Malaysia1989 New Zealand1989 Philippines1989 Singapore1989 Thailand1989 United States1989 Republic of China [2]1991 Hong Kong, China [3]1991 People's Republic of China [4]1991 Mexico1993 Papua New Guinea1993 Chile1994 Peru1998 Russia1998 Vietnam1998

India has requested membership in APEC, and received initial support from the United States, Japan[5] and Australia. Officials from the member economies are in the process of discussing whether to allow India to join.[6][7] There is a concern among Western countries that India's entry might tilt the balance of power in APEC in favor of Asia.[8]

In addition to India Mongolia, Pakistan, Laos, Colombia [9], Ecuador [10] 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,[11] and the moratorium was further prolonged to 2007 due to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis [12]. Guam 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 is one of the few international level organizations that Taiwan is allowed to join.

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 1stNovember 6–7, 1989 Australia Canberra2nd July 29–31, 1990 Singapore Singapore3rd November 12–14, 1991 Republic of Korea Seoul4th September 10–11, 1992 Thailand Bangkok5th November 19–20, 1993 United States Seattle bombardier jackets6th November 15, 1994 Indonesia Bogor batikshirts 7th November 19, 1995 Japan Osakabusiness suits 8th November 25, 1996 Philippines Manilaand Subic barong shirts9th November 24–25, 1997 Canada Vancouver leather jackets10th November 17–18, 1998 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur batikshirts 11th September 12–13, 1999 New Zealand Aucklandsailing jackets 12th November 15–16, 2000 Brunei Darussalem BruneiKain Tenunan shirts [1]13th October 20–21, 2001 People's Republic of China Shanghai silk-embroided "Tangzhuang" jackets14th October 26–27, 2002 Mexico Los Cabos guayaberashirts (m); huipíles(f) 15th October 20–21, 2003 Thailand Bangkok brocadeshirts (m); brocadeshawls (f) 16th November 20–21, 2004 Chile Santiago chamantos [2]17th November 18–19, 2005 Republic of Korea Busan hanboks18th November 18–19, 2006 Vietnam Hanoi áo dài [3]19thSeptember 8–9, 2007 Australia Sydney Drizabonesand Akubra Hats [4]20thNovember 2008 Peru Lima [5]21st November 2009 Singapore Singapore22nd November 2010 Japan23rd November 2011 United States24th November 2012 Russia Vladivostok

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 [13][14][15][16][17][18].

2003 APEC summit, Bangkok, Thailand

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.[citation needed] 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.

2005 APEC summit, Busan, South Korea 2006 APEC summit, Hanoi, Vietnam 2007 APEC Summit, Sydney, Australia

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.[19]. 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.

Criticism

APEC has been criticized for failing to clearly define itself or serve a useful purpose. According to the organization 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." [20] However, whether it has accomplished anything constructive remains debatable. [21]