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( Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries or regions (styled 'member economies') to discuss the regional economy, cooperation, trade and investment. The membership is claimed to account for approximately 41% of the world's population, approximately 56% of world GDP and about 49% of world trade.[1] The activities, including year-round meetings of the members' ministers, are coordinated by the APEC Secretariat. The organization conducts the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, an annual summit attended by the heads of government of all APEC members (with the exception of the Republic of China (Taiwan) which is represented under the name Chinese Taipei by a ministerial-level official at the behest of the People's Republic of China). The location of the summit rotates annually among the member economies, and a famous tradition involves the attending leaders dressing in a national costume of the host member. The most recent summit, APEC Australia 2007, was concluded in Sydney on September 9. In January 1989, Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke called for more effective economic cooperation across the Pacific Rim region. This led to the first meeting of APEC in the Australian capital Canberra in November, chaired by Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Gareth Evans. Attended by political ministers from twelve countries, the meeting concluded with commitments for future annual meetings in Singapore and South Korea. The initial proposal was opposed by countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which instead proposed the East Asia Economic Caucus which would exclude non-Asian countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The plan was opposed and strongly criticized by Japan and the United States.
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