Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

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Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC AY-pek) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim which promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Following the success of ASEAN's series of post-ministerial conferences launched in the mid-1980s, APEC started 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; it aimed to establish new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe. Headquartered in Singapore, APEC is recognised as one of the highest-level multilateral blocs and oldest forums in the Asia-Pacific / Americas region, and exerts significant global influence. The heads of government of all APEC members except Taiwan (which is represented by a ministerial-level official as economic leader) attend an annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. The location of the meeting rotates annually among the member economies, and a famous tradition...

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