ABSTRACT
A Senior Officials' Meeting convenes regularly between Ministerial Meetings to co-ordinate and administer the budgets and work programmes of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC's) committees and working groups. A permanent secretariat to support APEC activities became operational in 1993. The Economic Leaders' Meeting held in Brunei in November 2000 approved a proposal permitting participation by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in APEC working groups. In August the APEC Secretariat issued a report on Single Window System International Interoperability, with a focus on the alignment of 'one-stop' platforms for the completion of import and export clearance requirements in member economies. An APEC Higher Education Research Center, with a secretariat hosted by Beijing Normal University, commenced operations in 2016. The promotion of infrastructure investment was the focus of the eighth meeting of APEC ministers responsible for transport, convened in September 2013. In April 2012 an APEC Conference on Innovation and Trade was convened in Singapore, with the aim of promoting cross-border innovation.
