The Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC has 21 member countries representing the interests of the Asia-Pacific region. APEC brings the idea of regionalism to Asia. Since it represents 47 per cent of world trade, APEC is regarded as a very significant regionalized organization. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, economies in the Asia-Pacific region grew significantly. During this time the Asian Tigers developed and several countries moved their economic status from less developed to industrialized. The organization was established in 1989 as interdependence between the economies grew. Today the goals of the organization are to collectively strengthen relationships among member and nonmember countries and enhance economic growth for the region. Specifically concerning trade, APEC hopes to enact free trade for the industrialized members by 2010 and for less developed economies by 2020.
亚太经济合作组织，或APEC，拥有21个代表亚太地区的成员国。亚太经济合作组织给亚洲带来地区主义的理念。由于亚太经济合作组织代表世界贸易的47%，它被看作非常重要的地区组织。十九世纪七十年代到八十年代，亚太地区的经济发展十分迅速。这段时间，亚洲四小虎发展起来，一些国家也从比较不发达的经济状况发展成工业化。1989年这个组织成立作为一个经济增长相互依赖的产物。今天，该组织的目标是共同加强成员国和非成员国之间的联系以及增强地区的经济增长。特别是关于贸易，亚太经济合作组织希望在2010年使工业化成员国达成自由贸易，2020年达成不发达经济体的目标。