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Apec at a glance – a brief

The idea for Apec was first floated by the late Bob Hawke, former prime minister of Australia, in a speech in Seoul, South Korea, in 1989.

The founding members were Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the United States.

China, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei joined in 1991. Mexico and Papua New Guinea followed in 1993. Chile acceded in 1994. And in 1998, Peru, Russia and Vietnam joined, taking the full membership to 21.

Because Apec is focused entirely on economic co-operation, there are no flags and countries are not referred to, but economies.

Over the decades Apec has gone from primarily being a vehicle to reduce trade barriers, to promoting more inclusive trade, digital integration and environmental concerns.

1989 Canberra

An informal ministerial-level dialogue takes place which will eventually become APEC as we know it.

1993 Blake Island, United States

APEC Economic Leaders meet for the fist time and outline APEC’s visiion of “stability, security and prosperity for our peoples.”

1994 Bogor, Indonesia

The Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations conducted under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is concluded. APEC is widely considered to have been a significant force in bringing the Uruguay Round to a conclusion.

1996 Osaka, Japan

The APEC Business Advisory Council is established to inject a business

perspective into APEC deliberations and to give advice on business sector priorities.

1997 Vancouver, Canada

APEC endorses a proposal for early voluntary sectoral liberalisation in 15 sectors and decides that ‘Individual

Action Plans’ should be updated annually.

1998 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

APEC Ministers agree on a Blueprint for Action on Electronic Commerce, including a commitment to paperless trading by 2005 in developed economies and by 2010 in developing economies.

1999

Auckland, New Zealand APEC Leaders endorse the APEC

Principles to Enhance Competition and Regulatory Reform aimed at addressing the structural and regulatory weaknesses that contributed to the Asian financial crisis.

2000 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam

Leaders set the goals of tripling internet access throughout the APEC region by 2005, and achieving universal access by 2010.

2001 Shangahi, China

Leaders issue APEC’s first Statement on Counter-Terrorism and pledge to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation, in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks.

2002 Los Cabos, Mexico

APEC adopts a Trade Facilitation Action Plan and the Statement to Implement APEC Policies on Trade and the Digital Economy.

2003 Bangkok, Thailand

Members undertake to implement the APEC Action Plan on SARS and the Health Security Initiative to help the region prevent and respond to health threats.

2004

Santiago, Chile

2005 Busan, Korea

APEC completes a Mid-Term Stock-take of Progress towards the Bogor Goals. The stock-take finds that average tariffs in the APEC region have been reduced to 5.5 per cent, down from 16.9 per cent when APEC was established in 1989.

Apec 2021

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2021-11-21T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-21T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/283283165938058

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