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Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, also known as APEC, was established in 1989 with the goal of fostering trade and investment growth that is sustainable and will lead to economic prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. A coalition of 21 nations called APEC encourages and permits free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Singapore serves as the APEC headquarters.
In the International Relations section of UPSC GS Paper 2 for the Preliminary and Main exams, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, is a significant subject. We go through all of APEC’s subtopics in this article, including its history, members, goals, criticism, FTAAP, etc., in great detail. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Question from the Previous Year has also been discussed.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Introduction
A significant multilateral economic trade forum is the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. As a regional economic conference, APEC was created to promote stronger economic ties and long-term development among its member nations. Free trade and investment are guaranteed for members of the international intergovernmental organisation without any involvement in legally obligatory obligations.
50% of commerce and 50% of global trade are accounted for through economic cooperation in the Asia Pacific region. It is among the most thriving and lively areas. About 42% of the world’s population and more than 60% of its GDP are represented among its members.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) History
The idea for a permanent organisation was put forth by Australia’s then-prime minister, Robert Hawke, in January 1989. In light of the Pacific Rim countries’ market-based economies, he made this offer to facilitate improved commercial connections. The Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), which was composed of businesspeople, academics, and representatives of governments, also backed this concept.
Since 1980, the informal debate has also been held by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States were the five industrialised economies of the Pacific that attended the first APEC meeting. In November 1989, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting—which included representatives from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Brunei, and South Korea—took place in Canberra, Australia.
Due to concerns over the dominance of sophisticated nations like the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, the Association of Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting had hitherto remained informal and unstructured. The nations of ASEAN preferred that non-Asian nations be excluded from east Asian economic organisations. As the process of regional integration and economic liberalisation progressed and became important for economic development and security in the post-cold war era, they gradually began to embrace the concept.
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation was given a clear goal and organisational framework at the ministerial summit held in Seoul, South Korea, in 1991. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China were also members of APEC. The institutionalization of the APEC was finally finished in 1992 when the Bangkok ministerial meeting decided to establish a permanent Secretariat in Singapore.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Objective
The main goals are to create a discussion forum for a variety of economic topics and to encourage multilateral collaboration among the market-oriented economies in the region.
By encouraging the movement of commodities, services, capital, and technology; creating a regime of liberalised trade and investment; encouraging private investment; and fostering “open regionalism,” APEC specifically seeks to enhance economic and technological collaboration among the members. Furthermore, it aims to hasten and advance regional economic integration. The organisations work to foster a positive and long-lasting corporate environment by improving human security.
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Structural setup
A Secretariat, Senior Officials Meetings, Working Groups, and Annual Ministerial Meetings make up APEC. The Annual Ministerial Meeting of the foreign and trade ministers of all the member states serves as the governing body of APEC. Each year, a different member serves as meeting chairman. The Senior Officials Meetings, which are conducted yearly and include representatives from every member state, are in charge of putting the policies created by Ministerial Meetings into action.
Ten working groups, including two ad hoc ones, are involved in regional trade liberalization and economic policy. The other two working groups are concerned with telecommunications, trade and investment data, fisheries, tourism, transportation, trade promotion, investment, and technology, human resource development, and regional energy cooperation. The Executive Director of the Secretariat has a one-year term and is in charge of the organisation.
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 |
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Member Countries
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 are the 21 members of the Pacific Rim who make up the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation.
India had initially received support for its application to join the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation from the United States, Japan, and Papua New Guinea. However, because India does not share a land border with the Pacific Oceans with the other current members of the organisation, India was not granted membership. In November 2011, India received an invitation to attend APEC for the first time as an observer.
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation: Proposal of FTAAP
Due to the lack of progress in the WTO port round of negotiations and the need to avoid the “noodle bowl” effect caused by overlapping and conflicting provisions of the numerous trade agreements (there were about 60 trade agreements in 2007 with an additional 117 under negotiation in the region and therefore the Asia-Pacific region), the FTAAP proposal was made. There were 339 trade agreements between the ASEAN+6 countries alone in 2012, many of them were bilateral.
The FTAAP has a wider scope than the port round, which focuses only on easing trade constraints. The FTAAP would create a trading zone that may greatly increase regional trade and economic activity. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and 3 (ASEAN + China, South Korea, and Japan) and other regional trading areas may be surprised by the economic growth and trade expansion. Some objections include the claims that the rerouting of commerce among APEC members will result in trade imbalances, market conflicts, and difficulties with countries in other areas.
It is envisaged that the FTAAP will take place over a period of several years and involve important studies, assessments, and negotiations between member economies. It is further hampered by the lack of effective political activism and lobbying against trade in domestic politics. Five of the twenty-one APEC countries have expressed interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which currently has twelve of the twenty-one APEC members.
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and India
The main goals of APEC’s initiatives have been to streamline regulatory frameworks, lower trade and investment obstacles, and foster an environment of economic openness, cooperation, and dialogue. APEC has long piqued India’s interest. It made an unsuccessful application for APEC membership in the late 1990s, but due to a 1997 ban on new members, the application was not taken into consideration. In 2010, the ban was ultimately lifted.
Integrating an economy the size of India’s would be a significant step towards Asia-Pacific regional connectivity. Over the past 25 years, India has been a significant recipient of FDI from APEC members, with three APEC economies—Singapore, Japan, and the United States—ranking among the top five sources of FDI inflows into India.
India was the ninth-biggest global recipient of FDI in 2014 and the fifteenth largest the year prior. However, in the first half of 2015, an improvement in investment-friendly laws has helped India become the world’s top Greenfield FDI destination.
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Criticism
The Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) proposal was made in an effort to resolve the competing and overlapping aspects of the Free Trade Agreement against the backdrop of the Doha round of negotiations in the World Trade Organisation. By 2007, more than 60 FTAs had previously been completed, and over 117 FTAs were now being negotiated in South East Asia and the Asia Pacific area.
To promote trade, commerce, and economic development in the region, the Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) was intended to establish a Free Trade Zone. However, there was no political interest in moving further because of the public agitation and lobbying against the Free Trade Agreement in domestic politics.
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) UPSC
The Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) proposal was made in an effort to resolve the competing and overlapping aspects of the Free Trade Agreement against the backdrop of the Doha round of negotiations in the World Trade Organisation. By 2007, more than 60 FTAs had previously been completed, and over 117 FTAs were now being negotiated in South East Asia and the Asia Pacific area.
To promote trade, commerce, and economic development in the region, the Free Trade Agreement of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) was intended to establish a Free Trade Zone. However, there was no political interest in moving further because of the public agitation and lobbying against the Free Trade Agreement in domestic politics.