Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation: New Agenda in Its Third Decade

3. Organization and Activities of APEC

Organization and Activities of APEC 25 3 Organization and Activities of APEC Unique Network for Intergovernmental Cooperation APEC started as an annual meeting of foreign and trade ministers discussing economic cooperation in the Asia Pacific. However, after the Leaders’ Meeting was added to it in 1993, it has been attracting media attention as a big event in which presidents and prime ministers of major economies in the Asia-Pacific gather once a year. Their discussion shifted to the liberalization of trade and investment as well. Participating economies have taken turns every year in hosting the Leaders’ and Ministerial Meetings in October or November, and taking the initiative in the whole APEC activities. Senior officials of all participating economies meet three to four times a year and consult one another on the preparation for the two meetings.Additionally, committees and taskforces are organized by officials in charge of individual areas and issues. APEC has now become a busy working framework for intergovernmental cooperation all year round. This modality of consultation has evolved while APEC followed its precedent PECC (Pacific Economic Cooperation Council) both in membership, agenda setting, and modality of cooperation. Figure 3.1 shows APEC’s organization, which has evolved over several years. Ministerial meetings are organized for sixteen individual areas besides the two main meetings (Ministerial Meeting and Leaders’ Meeting) at irregular intervals (Table 3.1). Three meetings in charge of finance, trade, 26 APEC: New Agenda in its Third Decade Leaders’ Meeting Ministerial Meeting APEC Secretariat Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Sectoral Ministerial Meeting (Table 3.1) Policy Support Unit (PSU 2008~) SOM Steering Committe on Ecotech (SCE) Economic Committe (EC) Budget & Management Committee (BMC) Special Task Groups Anti-Corruption TF (2005~) Counter Terrorism TF (2003~) Gender Focal Point Network (1999-2002) Mining TF (2007~) Working Groups AgriculTechCoop (2000~) Emergency Preparedness (2005~) Energy (1990~) Health (1991~) Human Resources Development (1990~) SMEs (2000~) Telecom & Inform (1990) Tourism (1991~) Transportation (1991~) Committee on Trade & Investment (CTI) Subcommittees/Expert Group S-C on Standard & Conformance S-C on Customs Procedures Market Access Group Group on Services Investment Experts Group Intellectual Property Rights Government Procurement (disbanded in 2010) Business Mobility Group Electronic Commerce Steering FIGURE 3.1 Organization of APEC (as of 2010) Source: APEC Secretariat’s website. Organization and Activities of APEC 27 TABLE 3.1 Sectoral Ministerial Meetings Held, 1992–2008 Education 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008 Energy 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 Environment Sustainable Development 1994, 1996, 1997 Finance 1994 and annually Health 2003, 2006, 2007 Human Resource Development 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001? Mining 2004, 2005, 2007 Ocean-related 2002, 2005 Regional Science & Technology Cooperation 1995, 1996, 1998, 2004 Small and Medium Enterprises 1994 and annually Structural Reform 2008 Telecommunications & Information 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008 Trade 1994, and annually from 1996 Transportation 1995, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009 Women’s Affairs 1998, 2002 Tourism 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 Source: APEC Secretariat’s website. and small and medium enterprises (SME) have been organized every year since 1994–96. The trade Ministers Meeting is usually held together with the second Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) in June, and provides the main setting for finalizing the year’s agenda. The Finance Ministers Meeting used to be organized separately from the main meetings, but has begun to be organized just before them since 2008 when the G-20 Summit started on macroeconomic and financial cooperation. Besides the sixteen areas listed in Table 3.1, additional meetings will be held when needed. Incidentally, the first Ministerial Meeting on Food Security was held in Niigata in October 2010. The SOMs are a core of APEC activities. Two senior officials, at the deputy-director-general level from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry respectively, represent Japan in SOM. Each is assisted by the chief and staff of the APEC Office in their respective ministries. Other ministries, including the Ministry of Finance and Cabinet Office (formerly Economic PlanningAgency), dispatch directorlevel officials in charge of APEC-related issues. Other economies seem to be represented by similar personnel from governments so thatAPEC constitutes 28 APEC: New Agenda in its Third Decade a big framework for intergovernmental cooperation on a variety of issues. In addition, a small permanent secretariat is located in Singapore and assists SOM and committees. Thus APEC has already developed from merely an annual conference series to a permanent institution...