Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation: APEC Summit, Countries

What is APEC?

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation is a major multilateral economic trade forum. APEC was established as a regional economic forum to foster better economic relations and sustainable growth among the members of the countries.

The International intergovernmental grouping assures free trade and investment for its members without being involved in any legally binding obligation.

Asia Pacific economic cooperation accounts for 50% of trade and half of the world’s trade. It is one of the most vibrant and dynamic regions. Its membership claims about 42% of the world’s population and more than 60% of its GDP.

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History of APEC

In January 1989, the then Australian Prime Minister, Robert Hawke, proposed a permanent body. He offered this to coordinate better economic relations among the nations of the Pacific Rim (considering their market-based economy). And this proposal was endorsed by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), which included government representatives, academicians, and a group of business people.

• The Pacific Economic Cooperation Council also had been holding the informal discussion since 1980. The first meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) was with the five Pacific industrial economies: Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United State of America. The meeting of members of (ASEAN) Association of Southeast Asian Nations that is Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Republic of Korea, Brunei, and South Korea, was held in Canberra, Australia, in November 1989.
• Earlier, the Association of Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum remained informal and unstructured due to the fear of the domination of Advanced countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. ASEAN nations preferred east-Asian economic groups to exclude Non-Asian countries. Gradually they started participating in the idea because of the growth of the process of regional integration and economic liberalization becoming necessary for economic prosperity and security during the post cold war.
• The ministerial meeting in Seoul, South Korea, in 1991 adopted a definite objective and organizational structure for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. It also included China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in APEC membership. Finally, when the Bangkok ministerial meeting decided to establish a permanent Secretariat in Singapore, the institutionalization of the APEC was completed in 1992.

APEC Meetings [1989-2022]

Check Below for the complete details of APEC Meetings like where it is happened, when it is happened, Leader of Host etc.,

Year	Dates	Country	City	Leader of Host
1989	6-7 November	Australia	Canberra	Prime Minister Bob Hawke
1990	29-31 July	Singapore	Singapore	Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew
1991	12-14 November	South Korea	Seoul	President Roh Tae-woo
1992	10-11 September	Thailand	Bangkok	Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun
1993	19-20 November	United States	Blake Island	President Bill Clinton
1994	15-16 November	Indonesia	Bogor	President Suharto
1995	18-19 November	Japan	Osaka	Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama
1996	24-25 November	Philippines	Subic	President Fidel Ramos
1997	24-25 November	Canada	Vancouver	Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
1998	17-18 November	Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
1999	12-13 September	New Zealand	Auckland	Prime Minister Jenny Shipley
2000	15-16 November	Brunei	Bandar Seri Begawan	Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
2001	20-21 October	China	Shanghai	President Jiang Zemin
2002	26-27 October	Mexico	Los Cabos	President Vicente Fox
2003	20-21 October	Thailand	Bangkok	Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
2004	20-21 November	Chile	Santiago	President Ricardo Lagos
2005	18-19 November	South Korea	Busan	President Roh Moo-hyun
2006	18-19 November	Vietnam	Hanoi	President Nguyễn Minh Triết
2007	8-9 September	Australia	Sydney	Prime Minister John Howard
2008	22-23 November	Peru	Lima	President Alan Garcia Perez
2009	14-15 November	Singapore	Singapore	Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
2010	13-14 November	Japan	Yokohama	Prime Minister Naoto Kan
2011	12-13 November	United States	Honolulu	President Barack Obama
2012	9-10 September	Russia	Vladivostok	President Vladimir Putin
2013	5-7 October	Indonesia	Bali	President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
2014	10-11 November	China	Beijing	President Xi Jinping
2015	18-19 November	Philippines	Pasay	President Benigno Aquino III
2016	19-20 November	Peru	Lima	President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski
2017	10-11 November	Vietnam	Da Nang	President Trần Đại Quang
2018	17-18 November	Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby	Prime Minister Peter O’Neill
2019	16-17 November (cancelled)	Chile	Santiago	President Sebastián Piñera
2020	20 November	Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur (hosted virtually)	Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin
2021	16 July	New Zealand	Auckland (hosted virtually)	Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
	12 November
2022	18-19 November	Thailand	Bangkok	Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha

Important Declaration of APEC

• Bogor declaration – It emerged in 1994, intending to establish a free and open trade and investment regime in the Asia Pacific.
• In 1995, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation established the APEC Business Advisory Council.
• In 1996, Manila Action Plan came in which different countries were to provide a blueprint of a roadmap to achieve Bogor’s free trade goals.
• Further, in 2003, at the Bangkok Summit, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation added the security agenda to the economic agenda. Now APEC has become a platform for political and economic cooperation. This declaration emerged in the context of the growing threat of terrorism to member economies.
• In 2008, there was a declaration for reducing the gap between developed and developing member economies. This declaration took place after the financial meltdown of 2008. It called for enhancing food security and corporate social responsibility.

Objectives of APEC

• Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation is a platform to discuss the regional economy, cooperation, trade, and investment. The three pillars of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation are-
  • Liberalization of trade and investment.
  • Business facilitation
  • Technological and economic cooperation
• To promote interdependence economics in the Asia-Pacific region and inspire other regions to follow the same.
• To foster Asia-Pacific regional economic integration by establishing new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe.
• To enhance the prosperity of the people of Asia-Pacific by promoting balanced, inclusive, and sustainable development.

Structure of APEC

• Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation is based on the bottom-up and trickle-down approaches.
• There are 4 core committees and their respective working groups which provide strategic policy recommendations to Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders and ministers.
• In Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, the decision-making is reached by consensus means, with No binding commitments/ Treaty of obligation.
• Commitments are taken voluntarily.
• The chairmanship of meetings rotates every year among the member-states.

There are 10 working groups: Telecommunication, Trade and Investment Data, Fisheries, Tourism, Transportation, Trade Promotion, Investment and Technology, Human Resource Development, Regional Energy Cooperation, and Marine Resource Conservation. There are also two Ad Hoc groups dealing with Economic Policy and Regional Trade Globalisation.

APEC Members

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation is the regional economic forum of the 21 Pacific Rim member countries that is Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, USA, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Darussalam, Indonesia, South Korea, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, China, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Chile, Russia, Peru, and Vietnam.

India had requested Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation membership and initially also got support from the United State of America, Japan, and Papua New Guinea, but as India does not share a border with the Pacific oceans, like all the current members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation do, officials had decided not to allow India to join the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation.

India was invited for the first time as an observer of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in November 2011.

APEC Trade Agreement -FTAAP

In the backdrop of the progress of the Doha round of talks in the World Trade Organisation, the proposal for the Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) was to overcome the conflicting and overlapping elements of the Free Trade Agreement.

• More than 60 Free Trade Agreements had already been concluded by 2007, and approximately 117 were in the negotiation process in South East Asia and the Asia Pacific region.

The Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) was to create a Free Trade Zone to help increase trade, commerce, and economic growth in the region. But due to the popular agitation and lobbying against the Free Trade Agreement in domestic politics, there was no political interest in moving forward.

Criticism of APEC

The Free Trade Agreement imposes restrictions on decision-making on domestic laws and regulations, which include Labour rights, Environment protection, Domestic industries, and essential commodities like medicine. According to some European countries, it might not accomplish much, and Pacific Island nations which are also not a member, may suffer its consequences.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation UPSC

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) UPSC Topic is a part of the UPSC Syllabus. It is relevant for both UPSC Prelims & Mains Exam. As it is a part of the International Relations section, aspirants must cover the current affairs section in a comprehensive manner.

You can download the UPSC Previous Year Question Paper and UPSC Study Materials to add value to your exam preparation. To ensure that you cover all related topics, check the UPSC Books list.

☛ Download Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) UPSC Notes PDF

APEC UPSC Sample Prelims Questions

Question – In which of the following groups of countries all are members of APEC?

1. Australia, Newzealand, Mexico.
2. Philippines, China, India.
3. France, Germany, USA.
4. Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia.

Answer – A

Question – Which of the following is correct regarding APEC?

1. The USA and Japan are founding members of the APEC.
2. The headquarters is located in Singapore.
3. India has been an observer member since 2011.

Choose the correct option.

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. All of the above

Answer – D

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