Market accessAPECExport controlsNZ and the WTOOECDTrade AgreementsTrade RelationshipsTrade and economic analysisTrade law
Start writing the country or territory name in the box. Typing more letters narrows the search. Click "go" or hit "Enter" to go to the information paper on the country or territory.
(We don't have information papers on all countries and territories.)
Although we have tried to use plain English content on the site, you may come across specialist terms and acronyms. Find out what they mean in our glossary of terms.
If you come across a term that isn't included in the Glossary please send us an email.
Since 1993, the apex for each APEC year is the meeting of Economic Leaders. Since the Chair of APEC rotates annually, there is a different host every year. The 2008 host is Peru [external link]. Future APEC hosts will be Singapore (2009) , Japan (2010 ), United States (2011) and Russia (2012).
Throughout the APEC year there are many meetings held at different levels aimed at preparing issues for decision by Leaders, as well as carrying out directions issued by Leaders in previous years.
The joint annual meeting of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministers is the highest level ministerial meeting in APEC. Sectoral Ministerial meetings include annual meetings of Trade Ministers and Finance Ministers and less frequent meetings in some other areas, eg Science Ministers.
Below the level of Ministers, APEC Senior Officials meet regularly throughout the year. These "SOM" meetings both prepare for the Leaders'/Ministers' Meeting later in the year and respond to directions set by earlier meetings.
APEC has four committees below SOM:
In addition APEC has a range of Working Groups covering issues such as energy, fisheries, human resource development, industrial science and technology, telecommunications, trade promotion, transport and tourism. There are also several ‘Special Task Force Groups’ such as the Counter-Terrorism Task Force, the Health Task Force and the Task Force on Emergency Preparedness.
