The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), founded in 1989, held its first informal leaders' meeting in 1993 and has developed into the highest-level, most extensive and most influential economic cooperation forum in the Asia-Pacific region.
Currently, APEC has 21 member economies, including the three permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the United States, Russia and China, including all members of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), Singapore, Chile, New Zealand, South Korea, and the other 11 members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) except the United Kingdom. According to data from the APEC official website, by 2023, APEC will cover a population of about 3 billion, accounting for about 37% of the world's population. In 2023, the total real gross domestic product (GDP) will be US$56.6 trillion at constant prices in 2015, the total trade in goods will be US$23.5 trillion, and the total trade in services will be US$5.4 trillion, accounting for about 61.0%, 48.9% and 36.8% of the global proportion respectively. APEC advocates "freedom", "compatibility" and "openness" and is often called an "incubator of ideas". I have written two articles to comment on APEC, "Looking forward to APEC writing a new chapter of the "Asia-Pacific Miracle"" (2022) and "Comic Review of Inclusive, Cooperative and Dynamic APEC" (2024). Now I am cheering for the 2025 APEC Summit again.
The host of the 2025 APEC meeting, South Korea, set the theme of the 32nd Informal Leaders' Meeting as "Building a Sustainable Tomorrow". As we all know, today's Asia-Pacific is facing trade restrictions, fiscal pressures and geopolitical uncertainties, and economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region is on a stable and cautious track. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects GDP growth in the Asia-Pacific region to be 3.5% in 2024 and slow down to 3.3% in 2025; in the medium and long term, it will even slow down to 2.7%, lower than the global economy's 3.0%.
Looking to the future, APEC needs to stay true to its original aspirations and continue to promote economic cooperation and inclusive development. Back to the theme of the 2025 Korea Summit, "Building a Sustainable Tomorrow", it fully reflects the common desire of APEC members to promote an open, dynamic and resilient Asia-Pacific region. According to the APEC official website, South Korea will hold a series of activities this year, including calling for submissions for the Healthy Women and Health Economics Research Award by May 9, 2025 to implement APEC's commitment to gender equality, empowering women and enhancing their status in the workforce; APEC will hold senior officials meetings, policy support group meetings, science and technology innovation policy partnership meetings and expert seminars. Judging from the results that have been disclosed, the focus and priority issues of the 2025 Korea Summit include enhancing regional connectivity, promoting trade and investment, and promoting regional economic integration; responding to the impact of demographic changes, increasing human capital investment, promoting employment, and promoting prosperity that benefits all; exploring ways to cooperate in artificial intelligence technology, bridging the digital divide, developing digital trade, and strengthening digital economic integration; coordinating the economic policies of member countries, promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, and promoting productivity and competitiveness; promoting public-private cooperation and promoting investment; addressing issues such as public health, food security, supply chain disruptions and obstacles to sustainable development; strengthening policy coordination, promoting fiscal reform and prudent management, and promoting trade openness; strengthening scientific and innovation ties, implementing scientist exchange programs, establishing the APEC Science Innovation, Research and Education Award (ASPIRE), and advancing the commitments of the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040.
