Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is the regional economic forum established for accelerating regional economic integration. For today APEC has 21 member economies. APEC activities are centrally funded by small annual contributions from APEC member economies. These contributions are used to various projects which support APEC's economic and trade goals. Each year one APEC economy plays host to the most senior APEC events. As the host economy of an APEC year, that economy nominates a Chair to preside over these meetings. An annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting takes places at the end of the year and is attended by the heads of government of all APEC members. The location of the meeting rotates annually among the member economies.

APEC's working level activities and projects are guided by APEC Senior Officials from the 21 APEC member economies. These activities and projects are carried out by four high level committees: Committee on Trade and Investment, Senior Officials' Meeting Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation, Economic Committee, Budget and Management Committee. Sub-Committees, Experts' Groups, Working Groups and Task Forces all support the activities and projects led by these four high level committees. Working Groups carry out APEC's work in specific sectors as directed by APEC Economic Leaders, APEC Ministers, APEC Sectoral Ministers and Senior Officials.

A vital part of the APEC process are projects. They help translate the policy directions of APEC Economic Leaders and Ministers into actions and help create tangible benefits for people living in the Asia-Pacific region. Most APEC projects are focused on transferring knowledge and skills between members and building capacity so that each APEC member economy can move closer towards the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment. Projects typically include workshops, symposia, publications and research. They are open to participation from all 21 APEC member economies. APEC provides funding for around 100 projects each year. Projects are selected by members and approved for funding by APEC’s Budget and Management Committee. Each year APEC defines its key policy priorities. These annual priorities help to determine which APEC projects are selected for funding.

The Federal Siberian Research Clinical Center got funding and implemented three APEC projects in Krasnoyarsk. The first one, the international symposium Enhancing Cooperation of Medical Rapid Response Teams in Case of International Disaster Response in APEC Economies took place in 2012. The second, the workshop on Promoting Human Security in APEC – Development of E-Health Systems as a Tool for Management in the Health Area of APEC Economies was held in 2013. The experts from 15 countries participated in these events, exchanged best practices, knowledge and experience.

The third APEC Conference Cooperation Initiatives for NCDs Prevention and Control took place on October 17-18, 2019. Representatives from 11 APEC economies participated in this conference as experts and speakers. During the roundtable the Action Plan for NCDs prevention and control in APEC economies was elaborated. It was one of the main outputs of the conference. All member economies should share the best practices and strengthen existing collaboration for mutual benefit.

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