APEC 2011 and the National Center

On November 15th 2009 in Singapore, President Obama named Honolulu, Hawaii the host city for the 2011 APEC Leaders’ Meeting.  The APEC Meetings in Honolulu will mark APEC’s return to this country for the first time since 1993, the year in which President Clinton capitalized on the U.S. hosting to institute the tradition of the APEC Leaders’ Meeting and thus elevated the APEC forum to the level of a regional international Summit.

We anticipate that the U.S. hosting in 2011 will provide the Obama Administration and the U.S. with a unique opportunity to influence the course of regional economic integration in Asia, to cement the trans-Pacific linkages essential to driving prosperity and restoring growth around the Pacific Rim, and reaffirm the role of the U.S. as a leading voice for promoting shared prosperity through multi-lateral cooperation in trade and economic liberalization and facilitation.

As in any APEC year, the business community plays an important role both in informing the government policy process and in developing a complementary agenda of events that highlights and supplements the official meeting calendar. These include industry or sector specific workshops, seminars and side meetings on the margin of various APEC Ministerial-level meetings on areas such as Energy, Health, Transportation, Trade, Finance and so on. We expect a wide range of these meetings to be held across the U.S. during 2011, and there will be ample opportunity for the national and local business communities to actively support them. In addition, the year normally culminates in a CEO Summit, a major two-day event held in conjunction with the Leader’s Meeting that provides direct interaction between senior business executives and the Presidents and Prime Ministers of APEC.

2011 APEC Meetings and the National Center

For the U.S. year in 2011, the National Center for APEC will play a pivotal role as the lead coordinator for the U.S. 2011 Private Sector Host Committee, as well as performing its traditional function as the voice of the U.S. business community in the APEC policy process. The National Center will also be lead organizers of the CEO Summit, and will also lead coordination of the various sectoral events planned around the country alongside the Ministerial meeting schedule.

Overall, 2011 will be a very busy year with a wide range of opportunities for businesses to engage at many different levels of involvement and visibility. In fact, however, much of the work for 2011 has already begun in earnest. Efforts are already underway to coordinate with both the government and private sectors of 2009 host Singapore and 2010 host Japan to help them achieve success in their years while building momentum with any eye towards culminating in major deliverables for the U.S. in 2011. As always, the National Center is the organization best positioned to support company and industry group goals and help them achieve their objectives in making the most of this unique, once in 20 years opportunity.

For additional information on APEC 2011, or specific opportunities for business and industry during the U.S. hosting, please contact the National Center.