ABSTRACT
An informal gathering of the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies, at which the policy objectives of the grouping are discussed and defined, is held after each annual Ministerial Meeting. A Senior Officials; Meeting convenes regularly between Ministerial Meetings to co-ordinate and administer the budgets and work programmes of APEC's committees and working groups. The Seoul Declaration, adopted by ministers meeting in the Republic of Korea in November 1991, defined APEC's objectives, which are focused on the following "pillars": trade and investment liberalization; business facilitation; and economic and technical co-operation. In August 2018 the APEC Secretariat issued a report on Single Window System Inter-national Interoperability, with a focus on the alignment of 'one-stop' platforms for the completion of import and export clearance requirements in member economies.
