The economic growth in the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region has gained a faster pace than the rest of the world since the start of APEC in 1989, said Australian Minister for Trade Warren Truss.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the region has increased three-fold to 37.3 trillion U.S. dollars since 1989, a news release by the APEC media center here quoted Truss as saying Saturday.
In 1989, APEC economies had a per capita GDP of 5,205 U.S. dollars which was on par with the world average. But in 2006, its per capita GDP was almost 14,000 U.S. dollars, compared with 10, 305 U.S. dollars for the world's average, Truss said.
The APEC economic growth has delivered benefits to almost 3 billion people in the region, the Australian minister said in a report released on the eve of the APEC meetings in Sydney.
The 15th economic leaders' informal meeting of APEC will be held on Sept. 8-9 following a series of APEC meetings including a senior official meeting on Sept. 2-3 and a ministerial meeting on Sept. 5-6.
Since its inception in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence among Asia-Pacific economies, APEC has become a major regional forum acting as the primary regional vehicle for promoting open trade and practical economic and technical cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
The APEC member economies have grown strongly, and developing economies in particular have experienced significant increase in GDP and standards of living. The 21 member economies now account for 56 percent of world GDP and nearly half of world trade.
APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong of China, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
Source: Xinhua
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