National Center for APEC:
Expanding Opportunity in the Asia Pacific

APEC brings together the fastest growing economies from the most dynamic part of the world. It is the region American companies and workers look to for future growth. The National Center for APEC works with a broad range of U.S. companies to navigate the APEC process and helps create opportunities for market access and business facilitation. The National Center has also been designated to coordinate the private sector activities when the U.S. hosts APEC in 2011. Preparation for the 2011 meetings will require key Administration decisions that must be made soon, as well as significant congressional involvement.

What is APEC, and what is the role of the National Center for APEC?

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Organization (APEC). Under the APEC structure, 21 of the world’s leading economies, including the United States, China, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Singapore and others, come together to facilitate economic growth and shared strategic objectives. Membership includes more than two-thirds of the world’s population and accounts for over 50 percent of global trade. The trans-Pacific nature of APEC bridges the Americas and Asia, and it is the only regional forum that formally acknowledges the integral economic linkage between the two hemispheres. APEC’s Annual Leaders’ Meeting is an unparalleled opportunity for world leaders to address bilateral issues, as well as collectively tackle some of the world’s most pressing economic, energy, and security challenges.

How APEC Works. APEC’s unique structure – a diverse spectrum of ministerial meetings and official networks leading up to an annual Summit or “Leaders’ Meeting” – enables pursuit of a very broad agenda. Macro level topics – trade and investment; energy and climate change; food supply; security; disaster readiness – are all addressed at a region-wide level. At the same time, smaller working groups work throughout the year to develop highly practical, pragmatic steps that achieve specific goals impacting individuals and businesses throughout the region. APEC has a formal private sector input structure, in the form of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) that invites recommendations, advice and counsel from the business community in APEC’s deliberations.

The National Center for APEC (NCAPEC). The National Center is a private business association of U.S. firms engaged in APEC. Its focus is bolstering U.S. involvement in the APEC process and driving development of priority issues in APEC. The Center also serves as secretariat to the U.S. members of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), a body formed by APEC Leaders in 1996 to formalize business advice to APEC governments. Three executives from each APEC member economy (country) are selected to represent their business community in the ABAC. In the U.S., the National Center for APEC represents the interests of the American private sector and works with both the U.S. government and a broad array of companies across a wide range of economic sectors to help ensure that progress is being made on key issues affecting U.S. industry and workers.

Where has APEC succeeded, and what are the short-term goals?

Economic Integration and Market Access. In addition to its utility as a regional engagement mechanism, APEC is also a key platform for pursuing U.S. global economic and trade objectives. The successful completion of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations is widely credited to the first APEC Leaders meeting having taken place in the United States in 1993. That meeting provided an especially visible reminder that the U.S. had an alternative in the Asia-Pacific for its trade policy objectives should the Uruguay Round fail. In addition, many important trade policy initiatives have been undertaken by the U.S. at the APEC level, where it is able to engage China, Japan, Korea, Russia and other APEC economies on issues which have eluded bilateral solutions. For example, APEC’s broad agenda enables the US and China to work together on topics such as social security, safety nets, corporate governance, and environmental issues, and opens new paths of engagement with China within the broader APEC context on issues like IPR protections and transparency – areas where bilateral efforts have historically proven very difficult.

Past Successes: Specific Initiatives. APEC has made significant progress on initiatives in a broad range of areas including: customs harmonization, business travel, standards, road safety, and hundreds of other projects. The Information Technology Agreement, for example, which when adopted by the WTO in 1997 in the lifting of tariffs on all IT products, was actually generated in APEC. APEC has also addressed security issues; APEC’s October 2001 Leaders’ Meeting was marked by the commitments of the APEC economies to fighting terrorism. The vast majority of projects and initiatives undertaken by APEC over the years have been driven by U.S. business and government involvement.

Looking Ahead. There is no shortage of challenges confronting the APEC members in the time ahead. In the next two years, APEC countries will look to find common ground on complex issues from food shortages and energy prices, to security and international trade. This year’s meeting in Peru will focus particularly on corporate social responsibility, food security and safety, and regional economic cooperation.

The U.S. will host APEC in 2011. What is necessary to make those meetings a success?

The U.S. must continue to be an advocate for APEC’s success. Without continued and highly visible U.S. involvement, APEC would rapidly diminish in relevance, while its various members would likely turn to other regional fora (which exclude the U.S. as a member) to resolve issues and build regional economic and security architectures. At the same time, U.S. presence and leadership within APEC offers a highly desirable counterpoint to other large economies that might otherwise dominate the process. The prospect of other major economic actors such as China or Japan wielding unbalanced power within the APEC process causes anxiety on the part of many of the smaller APEC economies.

The next Administration must quickly make some key decisions on APEC 2011. As APEC Host in 2011, the U.S. will chair all of the major APEC fora (the Leaders’ Meeting, the various Ministers’ Meetings, the Senior Officials’ process and the APEC Business Advisory Council) during the host year. Hosting APEC provides a once-in-20-years opportunity to demonstrate U.S. leadership, commitment and vision in the region, and to shape APEC and the region for the coming decades. The 1993 U.S. hosting was marked by the elevation of APEC from a meeting of Ministers to an annual Summit of 21 of the region’s most important Leaders – the United States should identify an equally visionary objective for the 2011 year that can be a milestone on the new Administration’s roadmap for Asia-Pacific trade, economic, security and foreign policy objectives.

Immediate action is required to lay the groundwork for a successful APEC hosting in 2011. While the National Center for APEC has been designated to coordinate the private sector activities related to the year-long series of APEC activities, the new administration should move quickly to designate a high-level coordinator in the NSC/NEC to oversee the development of policy objectives for the U.S. host year. Host cities for the Leaders’ Meeting and several key Ministerial meetings must be selected, Congressional support must be developed, and budgets must be allocated for the hosting responsibilities.

The National Center for APEC represents U.S. companies – a broad cross-section of industries and workers in the United States and throughout the 21 APEC economies.