Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) 2017 summit was recently held in the city of Danang, Vietnam.
At the summit, Ministers from 11 Asia-Pacific countries have decided to go ahead with the trade deal “Trans-pacific partnership” without the United States.
APEC is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia Pacific region.
It is headquartered at Singapore and India is not in the grouping.
It was established due to growing inter dependence among Asia Pacific regions, increasing regional trade blocs, to diffuse growing power of Japan.
The criterion for membership is that the member is a separate economy, rather than a state and the result of it is the inclusion of Taiwan.
APEC also includes three official observers: ASEAN, the Pacific Islands Forum and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.