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APEC Leaders to Meet in Brunei
Leaders from the 21 economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will gather in Bandar Seri Begawan for their eighth annual meeting from next Wednesday to Thursday.
According to officials close to the meeting, which will be chaired by Brunei Sultan and head of state Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, the leaders are expected to discuss issues on globalization, new economy or knowledge based economy, regional economic cooperation, human resources development and the oil prices.
Established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence among Asia-Pacific economies and begun as an informal dialogue group, APEC has become the primary regional vehicle for promoting open trade and practical economic cooperation. Its goal is to advance Asia-Pacific economic dynamism and sense of community.
Today, APEC has become one of the most important economic cooperation bodies in the region and even in the whole world. Its 21 member economies had a combined Gross Domestic Product of over US$16 trillion in 1998 and 42 percent of global trade.
Promoting the liberalization of trade and investment and encouraging economic and technological cooperation have become the two major tasks of the regional economic body.
The 1999 meeting was held in Auckland, New Zealand. China will host the next meeting in Shanghai. Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who attended all the APEC leaders meeting, will chair the Shanghai gathering next year.
China's trade volume with other APEC members reached US$279.3 billion in 1999, accounting for more than 77 percent of its total foreign trade.
APEC now groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, The Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, The United States and Vietnam.
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