The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 as an informal Ministerial-level dialogue group with twelve members. Today APEC has 21 member economies spread out over four continents. APEC Member Economies work together to sustain economic growth through a commitment to open trade, investment and economic reform. This is accomplished by progressively reducing tariffs and other barriers to trade. The participating APEC economies are: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong-China, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam. India is not member of Apec.