Whither APEC?: Progress to Date and the Agenda for the Future

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum has agreed to achieve "free and open trade and investment" in the Asia Pacific region by 2010, for the industrial countries that account for most of its trade, and by 2020 for the rest. It has also launched a wide range of other initiatives to reach its ultimate goal of creating "a community of Asia Pacific economies." APEC has made significant progress toward meeting these targets but some observers wonder if the process has already stalled. This book describes what APEC must do to stay on track to realize its ambitious objectives.The volume particularly addresses the issue of trade liberalization. Can the Individual Action Plans, under which all APEC members annually indicate their agenda for achieving the Bogor targets across a wide range of issues, drive the process effectively? Are additional sectoral deals, like the Information Technology Agreement of 1996, feasible or desirable? Can APEC's regional trade groupings, such as NAFTA and the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, play a constructive role? How can APEC, which accounts for half of world trade, most effectively utilize its enormous negotiating leverage to promote global liberalization in the WTO?This volume also addresses a wide range of other APEC issues such as investment, economic and technical cooperation, sustainable development, and finance. In addition it considers the future membership and institutional framework of the organization in an effort to ensure that they support the ambitious agenda that APEC is now pursuing.