Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
The APEC forum was formed in 1989. It serves as a multilateral forum in which Asian and Pacific economies can solve economic problems and cooperate in developing key economic sectors.
Collectively, the 21 economies of APEC represent a large consumer market - nearly half the world’s population, nearly half of all world trade and more than $19 trillion in economic output.
The APEC economies are: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Republic of the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States and Vietnam.
APEC ministers have met each year since November 1994, when they issued the Bogor Declaration, which calls for industrialized members of APEC to remove trade barriers by the year 2010. Developing members of APEC will have until 2020 to achieve that goal.
At the Ministerial meetings held in Vietnam in November 2006, the Ministers concluded with the Ha Noi Declaration. Leaders agreed to work towards a timely conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda Round of WTO negotiations, with some practical suggestions to this end. The meeting also discussed terrorism, disaster management, and energy provision, with an agreement to work together to improve peace and security. Ministerial meetings are held annually with a member country as its host.
Additional Information
Asia-Pacific
U.S. exports to the Asian 10 (Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia) totaled over $267 billion in 2007.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
On October 7, 2003, 10 Southeast Asian nations signed an agreement to become an economic union by 2020. The Agreement sets deadlines for lowering travel restrictions and tariffs in the region of 500 million people. Trade in this ASEAN Economic Community totals more than $720 billion a year. ASEAN includes Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei and Myanmar.
In November 2004, ASEAN and China signed an agreement to eliminate tariffs on all merchandise trade. The 2004 deal is part of a five-year process to create a free trade area between China and the 10 ASEAN nations. They have begun to implement two major agreements leading to the creation of the Free Trade Area. The agreement will cut tariffs for nearly 7,000 products.
Once fully implemented, the agreement will create a free trade area of nearly 2 billion people and a combined gross domestic product of $2 trillion. It would be one of the largest trading markets, eliminating nearly all tariffs on goods, moving to liberalizing trade in services, and opening cross-border investment. A Free Trade Area for China and the six most developed nations is expected by 2010. This would include Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. The four newer members of Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos would join in 2015 after preparing their economies for the increased competition.
The United States is planning to begin bilateral free trade negotiations with five more members of ASEAN, according to a U.S. Trade Representative in the region. There is no time frame currently set for the potential talks with Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia and the Philippines, but the discussions are in line with President Bush's Enterprise for ASEAN initiative, which offers the opportunity of FTAs with nations who already have Trade and Investment Framework Agreements with the United States and are members of the World Trade Organization.