APEC

OVERVIEW

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of economies in this region. It comprises 21 members. Singapore is one of the 12 founding member economies of APEC, and last held the APEC Chairmanship in 2009.

Singapore recognises that APEC is an important platform for promoting greater trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, and deepening regional economic integration, which in turn strengthen development and growth in and between member economies in the Asia-Pacific region. According to a report published by the APEC Policy Support Unit, APEC economies accounted for 62 percent of global nominal GDP and 47 percent of global trade in 2022. Vis-à-vis Singapore, over 75 percent of our global trade in goods and services are from APEC economies.

APEC’s work for the next 20 years will be guided by the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, which was adopted by APEC Leaders in 2020. It envisions an open, dynamic, resilient, and peaceful Asia-Pacific by 2040, for the prosperity of all people and future generations. This will be achieved through three economic drivers, namely (a) trade and investment; (b) innovation and digitalisation; and (c) strong, balanced, secure, sustainable, and inclusive growth. In 2021, APEC Leaders endorsed the Aotearoa Plan of Action, which will serve as a blueprint towards the implementation of the Putrajaya Vision 2040. The Bangkok Goals on Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy, endorsed by APEC Leaders in 2022, outlines key action areas in supporting APEC’s growth trajectory towards a strong, balanced, secure, sustainable and inclusive future.

The 2023 APEC Golden Gate Declaration builds upon the work of previous APEC Chairmanships and seeks to move the region towards new ways of bringing resilience, sustainability, interconnection, innovation and inclusion into APEC’s priorities. Most recently, Peru held the Chairmanship of APEC in 2024 under the theme of “Empower. Include. Grow.”. It hosted the 31st APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) from 15 to 16 November 2024 in Lima, Peru. Under Peru’s Chairmanship, the 2024 APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration was adopted, which encourages digital transformation and innovation to create sustainable and inclusive growth for our region.

UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS

APEC 2025
 
The Republic of Korea (ROK) will host APEC in 2025. Under the overarching theme of “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow – Connect, Innovate and Prosper”, its priorities will be focused on addressing global challenges, promoting trade and investment, digital innovation and the harnessing of technology for prosperity, as well as issues such as energy, climate change, population decline and building an inclusive economy.

APEC 2030, Singapore

APEC is an important economic platform for consensus-driven cooperation in the region, and APEC’s strengths as a non-binding forum and an incubator of ideas allow economies to cooperate on many areas of work, such as on supply chains, digital economy, and sustainability. Singapore will host APEC in 2030to help steer APEC’s priorities as we work towards the Putrajaya Vision 2040 of an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific community by 2040, and looks forward to working with all economies and relevant stakeholders as we prepare to host APEC in 2030.

More information on its work can be found on the official APEC website.