APEC summit held in Vietnam

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was held in Da Nang, Vietnam.  The theme of summit was ‘Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future’.
Leaders of 21 Pacific Rim countries attended this meeting. This was second time Vietnam hosted APEC summit, having hosted the event previously in 2006. Next year’s APEC summit will be held in Papua New Guinea.

Key Highlights of Summit

The summit laid emphasis on collaborative activity, such as provision of support for small businesses, promoting sustainable growth and deepening economic integration. US and China, two economic powers in the region held opposing views on deepening economic integration. China expressed support to further globalisation, US called for support to ‘fair trade’.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC )

It is regional economic forum of 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. These 21 member countries collectively account for nearly 50% of world’s trade and about 57% of GDP.
It was established in 1989 in order to leverage growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific region’s economies and promote free trade in the region. Its headquarters are in Singapore.
21 Members Economies: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Chile, Peru, Russian and Vietnam. India is observer of APEC since 2011 and has applied for membership.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2017