Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

"The APEC, or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, is having a summit today, regarding of the collapse of cooperation between every Asian nation, and every nation within the Pacific Rim. I was shocked that the APEC could try to calm down the Chinese right now."

--Su Ji-Hoon, The Day APEC Died

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. It was established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional trade blocs in other parts of the world; to defuse fears that highly industrialized Japan (a member of G8) would come to dominate economic activity in the Asia-Pacific region; and to establish new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe.