The UBC APEC Information Centre is now open to answer questions about the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation meetings -- APEC '97 -- which will be held in Vancouver Nov. 22-25.
The meetings cap Canada's Year of Asia Pacific (CYAP), a framework initiative surrounding APEC designed to promote increased business relations, youth involvement and cultural exchanges to broaden understanding within the Asia Pacific region.
UBC will be the venue for the centrepiece APEC economic leaders' meeting on Nov. 25. It is the most important meeting of APEC, where the leaders will discuss key economic and trade issues in the Asia Pacific region.
The leaders' meeting will be held in the Great Hall at the Museum of Anthropology. Prime Minister Jean Chretien and his guests will break for lunch, tentatively planned for Norman MacKenzie House, and then return to the museum in the afternoon to issue the APEC Leaders' Declaration, which is the culmination of the APEC process in Vancouver that week.
UBC was chosen as the meeting site by Prime Minister Jean Chretien over six other venues in Greater Vancouver. It was felt the site would highlight Canada's commitment to using the APEC process to advance education and employment opportunities for youth throughout the region.
Canada is a founding member of APEC, which was formed in 1989 as the principal intergovernmental vehicle for economic co-operation in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in areas such as trade liberalization, human resources development, telecommunications, energy, the environment, transportation and tourism.
Attending the APEC leaders' summit will be U.S. President Bill Clinton, the premier of China and the prime ministers of Japan and Australia, as well as the leaders of Brunei, Chile, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.
As well as providing a venue for the leaders' summit, UBC has a direct academic involvement in preparing documentation for many of the ministerial meetings leading up to APEC. Academics at UBC are also engaged in research related to the APEC agenda on trade liberalization, standardization, human resource development and other issues.
UBC APEC contacts are: Christopher Brown and Carolyn McLean, members of UBC's APEC co-ordination staff; Eilis Courtney, APEC logistics and site management; and Paula Martin, UBC Public Affairs Office.
For information on the leaders' summit and related events, call the APEC Information Centre at 822-2080, fax 822-1936 or e-mail apec@unixg.ubc.ca.
A UBC APEC Web page is being constructed and will feature basic information on APEC, UBC's involvement, contact names and numbers, a calendar of events and links to many other APEC Web sites.
Regular updates on UBC's involvement with CYAP and APEC will follow in future issues of UBC Reports.