APEC Ministerial Meeting Seoul, Nov 12-14, 1991

Abstract

Ministers from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and the United States met in Seoul from November 12-14, 1991 to continue their discussion on the process of Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC). The Asean Secretariat, the Pacific Economic Co-operation Conference (PECC) and the South Pacific Forum (SPF) were present as observers. The Meeting was co-chaired by Mr Lee Sang-Ock, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Dr Bong-Suh Lee, Minister of Trade and Industry, of the Republic of Korea. The Ministers thanked HE Roh Tae Woo, President of the Republic of Korea, for his keynote address in which he emphasised that: APEC, whose fifteen economies are producing one half of the global output, has reached a state where an institutional base should be established in order to represent the common economic interests of the region and to promote intra-regional trade and economic co-operation; APEC should set an example of open regionalism under the principles of free trade, thereby complementing and strengthening the multilateral free trade system; and APEC, as a region-wide framework for co-operation, should play a central role in promoting a harmonious and balanced development of the trans-Pacific relations by embracing sub-regional economic groups within the Asia-Pacific region.