APEC 2009 Leaders’ Week in Singapore, Nov. 8-15
The most recent quarterly poll conducted by Bloomberg News among nearly 1,500 investors, traders and analysts who subscribe to the Bloomberg terminal showed that 17 percent picked Singapore as their choice of leading global financial center. This means Singapore is second behind New York which garnered 29 percent of the votes. Then, it is quite appropriate that Singapore should be host to this year’s 2009 APEC meetings from February to November with APEC 2009 Leaders’ Week taking place in Singapore from Nov. 8 to 15. Established in 1989, the APEC meetings will also mark the 20th anniversary of the regional grouping.
Singapore will play host to 10,000 delegates and international media during the APEC week. Here are some scheduled events:
- Nov. 8-9 Concluding Senior Officials’ Meeting; this will be the third and final meeting for the APEC Senior Officials for this year.
- Nov. 9-15 Voices of the Future
- Nov. 9-11 the 4th APEC Business Advisory Council Meeting
- Nov. 10-12 is the 16th APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) and Related Meetings
- Nov. 11-12 APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM)
- Nov. 12-12 APEC SME Summit 2009
- Nov. 13-14 APEC CEO Summit 2009
- Nov. 14-14 Singapore Evening at the Esplanade
- Nov. 14-15 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM)
See more information on these events at official APEC Singapore 2009 site.
It is expected that the leaders from the 21 APEC economies will focus on free trade and greater economic integration of the region. A regional free trade agreement would create the world’s biggest free trade area, surpassing the European Union. Currently, there are at least two versions of the free trade bloc competing for attention, one from Japan and the other from Australia.
Japan would like an East-Asian community, leaving the U.S. membership up in the air. Australia, on the other hand, is pressing for an Asia-Pacific community by 2020, which explicitly includes Washington.
These APEC meetings will, for the first time ever, have an internet presence as the organizers have launched an online discussion forum, featuring opinion-editorial pieces by prominent personalities and leaders to stimulate public discussion on the summit agenda.
In addition to the online forum, organizers are also commissioning a survey, asking some 300 CEOs for their views on various economic issues. Details of this survey will be released next week.
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