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In 2010, after three years of internal study and debate by officials and ministers, APEC leaders committed to taking 'concrete steps toward realization of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).' Furthermore, they stated that 'an FTAAP should be pursued as a comprehensive free trade agreement by developing and building on ongoing regional undertakings, such as ASEAN+3, ASEAN+6, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), among others.' China, as the host for APEC has chosen the goal of advancing regional economic integration as one of its major themes for 2014.
In conjunction with the 22nd General Meeting held in Beijing, PECC organized a high-level roundtable on the topic. The purpose of this workshop was to discuss the current literature on global value chains (GVCs) and regional trade agreements and how these might lead to shaping the future development of an FTAAP.
Keynote speech was delivered by Dr. Bayu Krishnamurti, Vice Minister of Trade of Indonesia. Mr. Chen Chao, the Director of APEC Division at the Ministry of Commerce of China briefed the participants of the ongoing APEC work on regional economic integration. Other speakers at the roundtable included: Dr. Patrick Low, Vice President of Research at Fung Global Institute; Dr. Shujiro Urata, Professor of Economics at Waseda University; Professor Lin Guijun, University of International Business and Economics, China; and Professor Inn Won Park, Korea University.