Rada pre hospodársku spoluprácu v Ázii a v Tichomorí
COUNCIL FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION IN THE PACIFIC AND ASIA

Summary/Abstract: The Council for Economic Cooperation in the Pacific and Asia was established on 5 November 1989 and the treaty was signed in Canberra. Originally the APEC members represented 12 Asian and American states and in 1998 they were joined by further 9 states from both continents. At present, there are 21 Asian and American states creat-ing the membership base. The APEC secretariat is based in Singapore. The APEC is a regional association compliant with the General Agreement on Tarriffs and Trade aim-ing to create a free trade zone and promote a global economic development in the Pacific area. During the first 5 years of its existence, i.e. since 1989 till 1994, noncommital dis-cussions were taking place during the APEC summits. Up to 1993 the activity of this organization was more or less formal. The summit in 1993 presented the goal to intensify the USA economic contacts with Asian countries. The Seattle summit put real fun-daments for building a free trade zone. USA representatives presented their idea on higher importance of the cooperation with Asian economies to European countries both for the present and future development. The USA policy marked a shift from the „At-lantic Era“ into a so called „Pacific Era“. The Pacific region is the most important busi-ness partner for the USA. The volume of goods exchange between them is significantly larger than the trade between the USA and the European Union. The APEC top repre-sentatives in Seattle appealed to businessmen operating in the region to unite in a Pa-cific business forum. The APEC economically strong member countries in the 1994 summit pushed away the prio-rity of building a free trade zone and voted for 12 para-graphs of an investment codex with the aim to leave minimum conditions for foreign investors who mainly invest into technologies or employ domestic managers. The priority in the region was to prepare conditions for investment activities with no barriers. Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 1995 in Osaka brought a dramatic change concerning activities of the Council. This summit approved an Action Plan for Liberalization and Support of Trade and Investment in the region. It included 9 para-graphs thus giving a background for liberalization of mutual trade and investment within the APEC. Energy will be the key to the economic growth in the Asian and Pa-cific region in the next century. The ability to satisfy the growing demand for energy will be essential for speeding up the economic growth and this will prove if this region can be a leader of the economic growth in the world economy after the year 2000. In November 1996 the APEC summit was held in Manila. The summit approved the „Manila Action Plan“ (MAPA) which till the year 2020 should remove any barriers within the trade among the APEC member countries sharing 46% of the world trade and 56% of the world gross domestic product.

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