APEC's Background
APEC was established in 1989 in Canberra, Australia with 12 members. Its origins lay in the
desire of the founding members to promote economic growth, foster and strengthen trade, and
improve living standards in the Asia-Pacific region. APEC started with a modest program of sectoral
and trade initiatives. From the beginning, APEC has seen itself not as a grouping of countries, but of
economies, the term emphasizing that the organization discusses economics, not politics. It was also
established as a loose consultative forum, with no organization structure or a large bureaucracy
supporting it. Indeed, even today, the APEC Secretariat, which is located in Singapore, includes
only 20 diplomats seconded from APEC member economies in addition to 20 locally hired staff.