The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum was established in 1989 in recognition of the growing inter-dependence of Asia-Pacific economies. That year, 12 Asia-Pacific economies met in Canberra, Australia to establish APEC. The founding members were: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, The Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and The United States.
Today, APEC has 21 member economies with the likes of People's Republic of China, Hong Kong China, Chinese Taipei, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Chile, Peru, The Russian Federation and Viet Nam joining the fore.