The PSU provides APEC with evidence and policy recommendations about economic issues within the Asia-Pacific region. It takes pride in its thorough, unbiased investigations and conclusion-based reasoning. With its capabilities, it assists with forum discussions, conducts in-depth analysis on a variety of topics and distills key findings into concise, understandable policy briefs and presentations. PSU projects are available on the PSU Publications page.
Project Development Process
APEC participants and fora may submit formal requests for assistance or proposals for work. The PSU can discuss proposals before they are formally presented and can assist with proposal designs that focus on initiatives with measurable outcomes. The PSU also suggests projects to aid APEC in putting its priorities into action, mobilizing internal and external expertise as needed.
The PSU Board must give its approval before the PSU starts a project. While the Board sets the work program and the PSU complies with APEC publication policies, the responsibility for research conclusions rests with the unit. The APEC agenda, priorities and resource implications for the PSU are all taken into consideration when making decisions. The PSU project development and approval process can be viewed here.
Governance Structure
The APEC Policy Support Unit consists of the Board and staff headed by the PSU Director. The Board, on behalf of APEC Senior Officials, provides strategic guidance to the PSU and approves the work plan and annual budget. The Board comprises representatives from:
- the current, immediate past and the next APEC host economy. In 2026, these are, respectively, China; Korea; and Viet Nam.
- each contributing economy. The APEC economies that currently contribute, financially or in-kind, to the PSU are: Australia; Canada; China; Hong Kong, China; Japan; Korea; Mexico; New Zealand; the Philippines; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; and the United States.
The APEC Secretariat Executive Director, PSU Director, and Chairs of the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), the Economic Committee (EC) and the Senior Finance Officials' Meeting (SFOM) attend Board meetings in an ex-officio capacity.
The Chair of the Board is the SOM Chair (or his/her delegate) of the current host economy. The Vice-Chair is a Senior Official (or his/her delegate) from the next host economy.
The current Chair of the Board is Ms Cui Lu from China. Information about the PSU Team is available on the PSU Team page.
In accordance with the governance arrangements, the PSU prepares an annual report on the PSU’s operations for each calendar year, which is then submitted to the Board for approval. The PSU Annual Reports are available for review.
Background and Purpose
The APEC Policy Support Unit, a research and analysis arm for APEC, was established by APEC Ministers in September 2007. The PSU commenced operations in 2008 under a set of governance arrangements. Part of the APEC Secretariat, it is supported by voluntary donations and overseen by a governance board. It has been granted an ongoing mandate, with effect from 1 January 2018.
VISION: For the PSU to be recognized as an integral part of the APEC architecture and a highly respected source of policy research and analysis, contributing to APEC's goal of supporting sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
MISSION: The PSU’s mission — as the policy research and analysis arm of APEC, comprised of openly recruited professionals — is to provide objective and high-quality research, analytical capacity and policy support capability to the APEC Senior Officials, committees and fora in order to contribute to improving the quality of deliberations and decisions in the forum and in promoting policies that support the achievement of APEC’s goals.