APEC represents the main inter-governmental grouping of the Asia-Pacific region, highlighting the fact that it operates based on non-binding commitments, open dialogue, and equality of respect for opinions of all its members. Therefore, unlike other multilateral trade bodies, the decision made by APEC are achieved by consensus, and the agreements that its members take are voluntary. Likewise, it is the only forum where the Ministers Responsible for Trade and Foreign Relations, as well as the main Economic Leaders of the World, meet informally every year.
In addition to the technical work in the Forum that allows the exchange of best practices and economic and technical cooperation on issues of various kinds, APEC allows Chile to strengthen ties at a bilateral level thanks to the fact that the Forum
brings together the highest authorities of the members for discussing issues of common interest and relevance to the region, one of the most dynamic on the planet.
It is important to note that the Forum has been a catalyst for the political space that has allowed the initiation, progress, deepening and completion of the negotiation of Free Trade Agreements with its members, to which several of Chile’s main commercial partners and markets of greatest relevance belong (China, United States, Japan, South Korea, and Canada). Chile has signed agreements with 16 of the other 20 APEC economies. A recent example of this catalytic power is the DEPA (Digital Economy Partnership Agreement) between Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore, the first of its kind in the world.
The most recent example of the above is the Declaration of Ministers Responsible for Trade on COVID-19, which proposes commitments to combat the pandemic and accelerate economic recovery by facilitating trade, particularly in essential goods and services, ensuring the continuity of supply and value chains, and promoting more resilient economies.
An active participation in the Forum allows us to contribute and be part of the decisions that will promote such a recovery. It will also strengthen the economic insertion of Chile in the region and the opening of new markets.
The importance of APEC for our economy is due to the fact that our major economic partners are part of APEC and also that a big part of the commercial exchange in the Asia-Pacific region is between its member economies. Some relevant figures that exemplify this point:
APEC
represented 64% of the exchange of Chile with the world, equivalent to USD $ 86,103 billion in 2017.
59%
of the importations of Chile come from APEC, in other words, more than USD $ 38,611 billion.
74%
of Chilean exportations go to APEC (USD $ 51,378 billion), with a yearly growth of 9% since 1994.
31%
of investments in Chile come from the APEC region.
5.295
295 Chilean businesses exported to the APEC region, which is equal to 65% of the country’s exporters.
44%
of Chilean exporters to APEC are SMEs.
Chile joined the Forum in 1994 and has been host twice (2004 and 2019). Chile has the presidency of the following APEC Committees and groups:
Committee on Trade and Investments (CTI): Krasna Bobenrieth, SUBREI (2020-2021)
Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE): Undersecretary Carolina Cuevas,
Ministry of Women and Gender Equality (until December 2020)
Digital Economy Steering Group (DESG): Julio Pertuzé, Ministry of Economy (until December 2020)
Oceans and Fisheries Working Group (OFWG): Alicia Gallardo, SERNAPESCA (2021-2022)
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