US-China trade war should not overshadow Apec’s role in offering a safe space for testing out bold ideas

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum has historically been a multilateral platform for members to identify common problems and float ideas on how to solve them, with bilateral rivalries taking a back seat

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Apec members participate in a dialogue with leaders from Pacific Island economies at the Apec summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on November 17, 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE

Rebecca Santa Maria

Dr Rebecca Santa Maria is executive director of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Published: 2:01pm, 19 Feb 2019Updated: 7:35pm, 19 Feb 2019

As Chinese and US negotiators try to hammer out a trade deal ahead of the March deadline, officials from both countries who are assigned to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will be flying to Santiago, Chile, to begin the first cluster of Apec meetings this year.

Until recently, bilateral matters have not concerned Apec, which is a multilateral forum that limits itself to matters of economic cooperation, is non-binding, has no dispute-settlement system and affords each of the 21 members equal standing through a consensus-based system. If, say, two members have a problem with each other, they take it outside, without bothering the forum with it, even if these two members happen to be the two biggest economies in the world.

But the Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting held in November attracted some negative attention because, for the first time since Apec leaders started meeting 26 years ago, it did not release a joint declaration signalling unanimous agreement in every area of cooperation.