Whither Apec?: The Progress to Date and Agenda for the Future (Special Report (Institute for International Economics (U.S.)), 9)

This volume addresses the issue of trade liberalization. Can the Individual Action Plans, under which all APEC members annually indicate their agenda for achieving the Bogor targets across a wide range of issues, drive the process effectively? Are additional sectoral deals, like the Information Technology Agreement of 1996, feasible or desirable? Can APEC's regional trade groupings, such as NAFTA and the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, play a constructive role? How can APEC, which accounts for half of world trade, most effectively utilize its negotiating leverage to promote global liberalization in the WTO? This book also addresses a wide range of other APEC issues such as investment, economic and technical co-operation, sustainable development, and finance. In addition, it considers the future membership and institutional framework of the organization in an effort to ensure that they support the agenda that APEC is pursuing.