The Organization of APEC
Since the first Ministerial Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Canberra in 1989, Ministerial Meetings every year have focused on strengthening its organization and activities. Since 1993, Economic Leaders Meetings have been held immediately after the Ministerial Meetings. Now, in addition to the Ministerial Meetings, there are also meetings by ministers responsible for environment, finace, small and medium enterprises, information and telecommunications, transportation, and science and technology.
The fourth Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok in 1992 decided that the APEC Eminent Persons Group be established in order to put forward various proposals on liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment from the perspective of learned scholars in the non-government sector, and by the decision of the 1993 APEC Economic Leaders Meeting, the Pacific Business Forum was established to introduce opinions of the business community into the discussion at APEC. Under the structure of the APEC Ministerial Meetings is the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), which is held three to five times a year. Under the SOM are ten working groups on; Trade and Investment Data Review, Trade Promotion, Industrial Science and Technology, Human Resources Development, Regional Energy Cooperation, Marine Resoucres Conservation, Telecommunications, Transportation,Tourism, and Fisheries. Within these working groups, a diverse range of cooperative projects are being advanced. The Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), the Economic Committee (EC) and the Budget and Administrative Committec (BAC) are also under the SOM.
The Activities of APEC
The objectives of APEC were outlined in the Scoul Declaration, which came out of the third APEC Ministerial Meeting in Seoul in 1991; the objectives in this declaration were the following; (1) to sustain the growth and development of the region for the common good of its peoples and, in this way, to contribute to the growth and development of the world economy; (2) to enhance the positive gains, both for the region and the world economy, resulting from increasing economic interdependence, including by encouraging the flow of goods, services, capital and technology; (3) to develop and strengthen the open multilateral trading system in the interest of Asia-Pacific and all other economies; and (4) to reduce barriers to trade in goods and services and investment among participants in a manner consistent with GATT principles, where applicable, and without detriment to other economies. The various activities of APEC have developed along the lines of these objectives, and at last year's Economic Leaders Meeting, specific emphasis was placed upon the two pillars: (1) liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and (2) development cooperation. These two pillars, which are stated in the Bogor Declaration, show the direction APEC should take from this year on.
As the APEC Chair this year, Japan is expected to coordinate and incorporate the opinions of member economies and formulate an Action Agenda for the future of APEC which will be composed of the two pillars: liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and economic and technical cooperation.
Back to Index
