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Senior officials from 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum gathered on Tuesday, kicking off a set of annual APEC meetings, which include the 15th ministerial meeting on Oct. 17-18 and culminate in the 11th Economic Leaders Meeting on Oct. 20-21.

Since its inception in 1989 in response to the growing inter-dependence among Asia-Pacific economies, with the goal to advance economic dynamism and sense of community within the region, APEC has become a formidable regional forum from its modest beginning. The chairmanship rotates among members, with Thailand holding the chair this year.

The block now groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

Currently, the APEC economies comprise some 2.5 billion people,and over 47 percent of world trade. It has established itself as the primary regional vehicle for promoting open trade and practical economic and technical cooperation.

The purpose of the APEC meetings is to promote free trade and Asia Pacific cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment and technology.

However, since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United Statesin 2001, and last year's devastating bombings in the Indonesian island of Bali, security and anti-terrorism have also been the dominating topics for the meetings. A string of terror attacks occurred this year in several APEC members, such as Russia and Indonesia.

Following the collapse of the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in September in Cancun, Mexico, reviving the Doha round of global trade talks will also be a major task for this year's APEC gatherings.

In the meantime, APEC serves as a unique venue for bilateral meetings among officials and leaders from APEC members.

APEC has a five-layer structure: APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting,Ministerial Meeting, Senior Officials Meetings (SOM), committees and working groups, and the Secretariat.

SOMs are a series of meetings held three or four times a year, with the concluding session being convened to prepare agenda and documents for the subsequent ministerial and leaders' meetings.

The Ministerial Meeting, or dual-ministerial meeting, is attended by ministers in charge of foreign affairs and trade to prepare for the Economic Leaders Meeting.

The informal leaders' meeting is held for member leaders to exchange views on economic issues, and constitutes the highest level of APEC activities. The first such meeting took place in Seattle, the United States, in November 1993.

The APEC Secretariat, located in Singapore, was set up in February 1993. It serves as the core support mechanism for the APEC process.

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