U.S. Ambassador Ron Kirk at
APEC 2009 Conference Who
Tops the Search on Marketing
Africa to Asia? Would you believe that APEC inspired
one of the first magazines in our 15 year
history? What is Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation? Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or
APEC, is the premier forum for
facilitating economic growth, cooperation,
trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific
region . APEC is the only inter governmental
grouping in the world operating on the
basis of non-binding commitments, open
dialogue and equal respect for the views
of all participants. Unlike the WTO or
other multilateral trade bodies, APEC has
no treaty obligations required of its
participants. Decisions made within APEC
are reached by consensus and commitments
are undertaken on a voluntary basis. APEC has 21 members - referred to as
"Member Economies" - which account for
approximately 40.5%1 of the world's
population, approximately 54.2%1 of world
GDP and about 43.7%2 of world trade APEC's 21 Member Economies 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; Viet Nam. Purpose and Goals APEC was established in 1989 to further
enhance economic growth and prosperity for
the region and to strengthen the
Asia-Pacific community. Since its inception, APEC has worked to
reduce tariffs and other trade barriers
across the Asia-Pacific region, creating
efficient domestic economies and
dramatically increasing exports. Key to
achieving APEC's vision are what are
referred to as the 'Bogor Goals' of free
and open trade and investment in the
Asia-Pacific by 2010 for industrialized
economies and 2020 for developing
economies. These goals were adopted by
Leaders at their 1994 meeting in Bogor,
Indonesia.
Again
our website is #1 on
Google
Well
it did! It was a special edition for the
APEC WORLD CONVENTION held in Vancouver
Convention Centre, a few blocks from our
office. Copies were available to all
delegates and was the only travel magazine
most of them received. Trade and Travel to
Africa from Asia Pacific countries is more
relevant today than it was back in 1997
when we produced this issue. Several
airlines and airline groups offer
attractive packages - and it's a wonderful
opportunity from the West Coast where we
live when we are not in Africa. See:
http://www.airhighways.com/apec.htm
