|
SINGAPORE, Oct. 31-- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) can adapt to complex trading environments since the organization is a purely voluntary and flexible pact, said executive director Alan Bollard in a recent interview with Xinhua. APEC, with less than half of the world's population, accounts for more than half of the world's GDP, the economist noted ahead of the organization's next summit to be held shortly in Da Nang, Vietnam. Grouping 21 different economies together and joining them up around the Pacific rim, APEC has advantages over some legally binding institutional arrangements. If they disagree on something, then a pathfinder group of economies can try to work things out, noted the executive director. By bringing together the world's top two economies, namely the United States and China, and some other much smaller ones, APEC can take advantage of what different economies can do best, he said, pointing out the fact that the bloc has helped drive economic growth and improve living standards in the region. According to Bollard, while all 21 members have demonstrated leadership in one way or another, China has shown strong leadership in APEC on a whole range of initiatives. China outlined a connectivity blueprint for APEC when hosting a summit in 2017. Moreover, Beijing has made good progress on avoiding the middle-income trap, expanding domestic demand as a growth driver as well as on developing a green economy and supply-chain development. | 
