The United States will be kicking off its host year for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) with a Senior Officials Meeting this Friday and Saturday, March 11-12, in Washington, D.C. Senior Officials from each of the 21 APEC member countries will gather to discuss issues such as strengthening regional economic integration, expanding trade, promoting clean energy, and advancing regulatory cooperation and convergence.
As the premier forum for strengthening regional economic integration in the Asia-Pacific, APEC focuses on fostering economic growth that can lead to better jobs for more Americans and people of every Pacific nation. These efforts are critical to meeting President Obama’s goal of doubling U.S. exports, because APEC member economies account for 55 percent of the global economy and buy 58 percent of all U.S. exports. In fact, U.S. producers sold $618 billion of goods to APEC countries in 2009.
The Senior Officials Meeting is the first of four major APEC meetings that the United States will host this year. Additional meetings include a ministerial-level meeting to be held in Big Sky, Montana in May, the third Senior Officials Meeting in San Francisco in September, and the culminating Economic Leaders’ Meeting that will be hosted by President Obama in Honolulu, Hawaii this November.
