Bureau of International Labor Affairs Print This Page Print This Page  Decrease Text Size Increase Text Size Text Size  Email This Page E-mail This Page

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

APEC was established in 1989 to promote economic cooperation and integration in the Asia-Pacific region. APEC requires no treaty obligations of its 21 member economies and decisions made within APEC are by consensus only.

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Bureau of International Labor Affairs heads the U.S. Government delegation to APEC's Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG), which addresses issues dealing with worker training, education, human resources, productivity and management. Within the HRDWG, the Labor and Social Protection Network (LSPN) promotes strong and flexible labor markets and strengthening social protection, including social safety nets, through collaboration, technical co-operation and the provision of labor market and social protection information and analysis to address sustainable human resource development across APEC member economies.

The last meeting of the HRDWG took place in Chicago on June 22-26, 2009. Delegates from 16 member economies participated in a multi-panel session on career and technical education. Delegates in the LSPN also engaged in an extensive discussion on their respective economies’ experiences with and responses to the global economic crisis.

As an active member of the HRDWG, DOL has organized three events on various topics related to employment and training issues since 2006. These meetings, which were designed to assist APEC member economies address workforce demands in the Asia-Pacific region, include:

The Human Resources Development Working Group has developed the following tools to promote best practices and to share information on employment- and labor-related issues:

Upcoming APEC and HRDWG meetings and events:

  • Singapore will host the annual APEC Leaders' Meeting in November 2009, followed by Japan (2010), the United States (2011) and Russia (2012).
  • The next meeting of the HRDWG will take place in Japan in February 2010.
  • China will host the next HRD Ministerial Meeting in September 2010.