The Asia - Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is an inter - governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia - Pacific region. Following the success of ASEAN's series of post - ministerial conferences launched in the mid - 1980s, APEC started in 1989, in response to the growing interdependence of Asia - Pacific economies and the advent of regional trade blocs in other parts of the world; it aimed to establish new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe.[5] Headquartered in Singapore.