Twenty-one Pacific Rim nations, including the United
States and Canada, are members of the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC), which was established
in 1989 to provide a forum for discussion on a broad
range of economic issues, to encourage economic
cooperation, and to promote trade among the market-
oriented economies of the region. A permanent
secretariat was established in Singapore in 1993. In the
1994 Bogor (Indonesia) Declaration APEC members
agreed to establish a free-trade zone over a 26-year
period.