Asia-Pacific Business Leaders Meeting in Auckland - August 18-20, Strengthening Regional Economy and Anti-Corruption on Agenda

Prominent business leaders from major corporations in each of APEC's 21 Member Economies will be in Auckland next week to discuss issues affecting regional economic growth and stability.

Recommendations prepared by the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) will then be presented to APEC Leaders at their annual meeting to be held in Santiago, Chile, this November.

Areas covered by the ABAC Meeting in Auckland will include business facilitation, trade and investment promotion, financial market stability, anti-corruption and capacity building in developing regions.

Visiting business leaders will also meet with local New Zealand business representatives to discuss opportunities investing and conducting business in New Zealand.

The Auckland ABAC meetings will take place from August 18 to 20 at the Hilton Auckland, Prince's Wharf.

Representatives of news organizations are invited to attend the opening session of the Auckland ABAC Meeting at 4:30PM pm Wednesday, August 18, and to attend a press conference at 12:00noon on Friday, August 20.

This will be the third ABAC Meeting for 2004 following the first meeting in Florida in February and the second meeting in Taipei in May.

Each APEC Member Economy has three representatives on the APEC Business Advisory Council, each of these representatives is nominated to sit on the Council by the Leader of their economy.

APEC has 21 Member Economies: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; China; Hong Kong China; Indonesia; Japan; Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Russia; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States of America; and Viet Nam.