Eyes around the world are turning toward Beijing as avid preparations for the annual APECEconomic Leaders’ Meeting are underway there. Hopes for productive summit outcomes have been heightened amid continuing regional doldrums.

At least two major elements contribute to these earnest hopes. For one, APEC is expected to contribute further toward socioeconomic development in the Asia-Pacific region. In the quarter century since the birth of APEC, its member economies have achieved enviable economic development, collectively now making up more than half of global GDP and trade.

Nevertheless, although APEC continues to shoulder its original aims of promoting free trade in the Asia-Pacific, many other free-trade initiatives in the region appear to have surpassed APEC’s speed and magnitude.

… The author is a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.