The annual meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum was held last weekend in Hanoi. The Vietnamese hosts were no doubt pleased with the results. The conclave showcased the country's economic development and provided an exclamation point for Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). But critics still charge that APEC is "four adjectives in search of a noun," and last weekend's meeting did little to suggest otherwise.
The APEC Leaders Summit, inaugurated 14 years ago, is one of the few opportunities for heads of state from the region to meet and discuss their shared concerns. With members spanning the entire Asia-Pacific region and including some of the world's richest and most developed countries as well as some of the poorest, APEC is forced to take a lowest common denominator approach to many issues.
A decade ago, the group genuinely pushed the policy envelope, but since then, implementation of creative solutions to problems has languished and frustrations have mounted. The Leaders Summit has produced annual declarations of lofty goals, but those words have not been matched by action.