The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation was established by 12 members in 1989 to serve as a loose consultative forum to promote broad sectoral cooperation between regional economies. Today, it has grown into a forum of 21 Pacific Rim economies that are working together to lower trade barriers, promote free trade and pave the way for greater economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region. And numerous other economies are requesting to join the forum.

The annual gathering of APEC leaders has evolved into a global media event. This year's summit in Bali, Indonesia, drew roughly two dozen heads of state, 46 ministers, 5,000 economic leaders and 3,000 journalists. The figure does not include the thousands who attended numerous APEC events held before the summit.

The theme of this year's conclave was "Towards Resilience and Growth: Reshaping Priorities for the Global Economy", which was noteworthy for a number of reasons.