Key Trends and Developments relating to Trade and Investment Measures and their Impact on the APEC Region, June 2012

This report was presented at the Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting in Kazan, Russia, 4-5 June 2012. It found that APEC economies, particularly developing APEC economies, continue to drive global real GDP growth. However, given the fragility of the global economic recovery and the significant downside risks that remain, APEC members will need to implement strong policy responses to ensure sustainable growth. The report also highlights that growth in the volume of world merchandise trade slowed in 2011 and is forecast to slow even further in 2012. The natural disasters in Japan and Thailand, both of which severely disrupted global supply chains, significantly affected exports from many APEC economies. In addition, the imposition of new trade restricting measures continues unabated, adding to the stock of restrictions put in place since the outbreak of the global financial crisis, while the removal of existing restrictions has been very slow. Meanwhile, global foreign direct investment flows rose in 2011, mainly driven by an increase in cross-border merger and acquisitions in Europe, and are estimated to increase only slightly in 2012.