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What is Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation?
India\'s membership in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will likely be an important topic in Prime Minister Narendra Modi\'s talks with President Barack Obama next week, according to Arvind Panagariya, the vice chairman of the Niti Aayog.
India's membership in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will likely be an important topic in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with President Barack Obama next week, according to Arvind Panagariya, the vice chairman of the Niti Aayog. "One concrete thing I would hope would be on the agenda is India's entry into APEC," during the Modi-Obama summit, he told a roundtable at the Asia Society Policy Institute here on Wednesday.
He said "APEC is a stepping stone" on the way to other trade agreements. "If India is going to sustain a growth rate of eight to 10 per cent over a period of 20 or 25 years, it cannot be done without actually capturing some of the world markets" through trade arrangements, he said.
APEC is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
It was established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific. APEC's 21 members aim to create greater prosperity for the people of the region by promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth and by accelerating regional economic integration.
APEC works to remove trade tariffs and other obstacles to trade in the area. Its headquarters are in Singapore. The countries involved are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, China; Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, The Republic of the Philippines, The Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States of America, and Vietnam.
APEC ensures that goods, services, investment and people move easily across borders. Members facilitate this trade through faster customs procedures at borders; more favorable business climates behind the border; and aligning regulations and standards across the region. For example, APEC's initiatives to synchronise regulatory systems is a key step to integrating the Asia-Pacific economy.
A product can be more easily exported with just one set of common standards across all economies. By enhancing members' capacity through skills training and technological know-how, APEC-funded projects strengthen members' readiness to adopt new initiatives from electronic customs processing to regulatory reform. APEC projects also target specific policy areas from enhancing small and medium enterprise competitiveness to facilitating the adoption of renewable energy technologies in the region.
