Asia pacific economic cooperation (APEC) summit – 2015

APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting-2015,Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World,Benigno S. Aquino III

Question: The 23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Summit was held at–

(a) Manila
(b) Beijing
(c) Peru
(d) Canberra

Ans (a)

Related facts:

  • 23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders (AELM) Summit was held at Manila, Philippines from 18 November to 19 November 2015.
  • The summit was chaired by Philippines President Benigno S. Aquino III.
  • The theme of the Summit was “Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better World” .
  • Last year APEC summit was held at Beijing, China from 10-11 November 2014.
  • Peru will chair APEC throughout 2016 and host the 24thAPEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
  • The idea of APEC was firstly publicly broached by former Prime Minister of Australia Bob Hawke during a speech in Seoul, Korea on 31 January 1989.
  • As the result of his efforts The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a regional economic forum established in 1989, and 1stAPEC Summit was held at Canberra, Australia.
  • From 1989 to 1992 only representative level meetings of APEC countries were held.
  • In 1993, former United States President Bill Clinton and Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating established the practice of an annual APEC Economic Leaders Meeting to provide greater strategic vision and direction to cooperation in the region.
  • APEC has 21 members, Out of which 12  are founding members these are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the United States.
  • China, Hong Kong, China and Chinese Taipei joined in 1991. Mexico and Papua New Guinea followed in 1993. Chile acceded in 1994. And in 1998, Peru, Russia and Viet Nam joined, taking the full membership to 21.
  • India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Macau, Mongolia, Laos, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador are the countries which are willing to join APEC.
  • APEC has three official observers: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council(PECC) and the Pacific Islands Forum(PIF) Secretariat.
  • APEC’s headquarter is in Singapore.

Reference:

http://apec2015.ph/meetings/aelm/

http://apec2015.ph/2015/11/19/apec-declaration-manila/

http://www.apec.org/About-Us/About-APEC/Member-Economies.aspx

http://www.apec.org/About-Us/About-APEC.aspx

http://www.apec.org/About-Us/How-APEC-Operates/APEC-Observers.aspx