WORKING GROUPS

Ministerial Meeting

A Ministerial Meeting is held once a year to review APECﾕs activities over the preceding year and discuss future approaches to trade, investment, and regional economic cooperation. Each member economy sends up to three ministers in charge of foreign affairs and trade to the meetings.

Senior Officials Meeting (SOM)

Each year three or four meetings are held among senior officials at the vice-minister level. Working under the direction of their respective ministers, the senior officials supervise the activities of committees and working groups and make preparations for the Ministerial Meeting.

Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI)

This committee meets three or four times a year, immediately prior to each session of SOM, with participants ranging from deputy vice-ministers to division chiefs. The committee submits reports to the Ministerial Meeting through SOM, and the meeting, after reviewing recent developments in trade and investment issues, decides on a CTI working program.

Objectives

To foster common understanding among APEC members on trade and investment matters.

To pursue opportunities for liberalizing and expanding regional trade and investment.

To build a consensus on eliminating barriers to liberalization.

Main Activities

Formulation of investment principles, consultation on trade policies, harmonization of standards and certification, identification of administrative barriers to market access, evaluation and implementation of Uruguay Round results, simplification of tariff procedures, creation of a data base for tariffs.

Budget and Administrative Committee (BAC)

This committee, composed of members ranking from bureau chief to division chief, meets about three times each year. It was set up at the 1993 Ministerial Meeting by upgrading a group of "shepherds" (coordinating member economies) formed by representatives of the 10 working groups. The committee deliberates on matters relating to budgeting and organization, including integrating or disbanding working groups and improving the secretariat's functions.

Economic Committee (EC)

This committee, composed of members ranking from bureau chief to division chief, meets at least twice each year.
It was formed at the 1994 Ministerial Meeting by upgrading the Ad Hoc Group on Economic Trends and Issues. Drawing as far as possible on statistics and studies provided by international organizations, the committee holds informal talks on APEC's macroeconomic and microeconomic conditions and on structural and sectoral issues affecting APEC's members.

Objectives

To support and enhance exchange among working-level economic officials.

To contribute to ministerial-level discussions by promoting economic dialogue and increasing transparency.

Working Groups

With members at the level of division chief, these groups meet one to three times each year. Their shepherds take the lead in coordinating and promoting activities.

Trade and Investment Data Review (TID)

Shepherds Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, United States.
Activities Compilation of comparable data on commodity trade, construction of a commodity trade data base, study of data adjustment methods in workshops.

Trade Promotion (TP)

Shepherds China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand.
Activities Organizing trade promotion seminars and training sessions, hosting trade fairs, study of trade and industry information networks.

Industrial Science and Technology (IST)

Shepherds China, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines.
Activities Organizing industrial technology seminars, exchange of views and preparation of reports on industrial technology, compilation of industrial technology indices, survey and analysis of policies that promote innovation.

Human Resources Development (HRD)

Shepherds Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Thailand.
Activities Survey and analysis of labor markets, planning and implementation of various projects for human resource development in one or a combination of the fields of economic development, business management, industrial technology, and education, follow-up activities for human resources development in each specific area of the other working groups.

Regional Energy Cooperation (REC)

Shepherd Australia.
Activities Collection of information on energy supply and demand at present and in the future, research into clean coal technology, study of energy efficiency and conservation, study of R&D and technology transfer.

Marine Resource Conservation (MRC)

Shepherds Canada, Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand.
Activities Implementation of projects on red tides and toxic algae, follow-up activities to Agenda 21 of the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development, compilation of an inventory of multilateral organizations concerned with marine resource conservation in the Asia-Pacific region, implementation of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Strategies Project.

Telecommunications (TEL)

Shepherds Indonesia, Philippines, United States.
Activities Collection of information on telecommunications, promotion of electronic data interchange, study of manuals on infrastructure development, study of fostering human resources in the telecommunications sector.

Transportation (TPT)

Shepherd United States.
Activities Survey of transportation systems and data, survey of electronic data interchange and transportation bottlenecks, study of a data base for transportation technology.

Tourism (TWG)

Shepherds Indonesia, United States.
Activities Compilation of information on tourism and study of a data base, study of methods and projects to promote tourism, study of fostering human resources to manage tourism resources.

Fisheries (FWG)

Shepherds Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand.
Activities Selection of fish species requiring international resource management, review of activities of international organizations managing marine resources, cooperation in the development of technology to harvest and process marine products, cooperation in the distribution of marine products.

Source : APEC ALMANAC '95 published by Foreign Press Center

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