The APEC Automotive Dialogue (AD) serves as a forum for APEC member economy officials and senior industry representatives to work together to map-out strategies for increasing the integration and development of the automotive sector within the region.

The AD was established in recognition of the crosscutting nature of the automotive industry and of the broad benefits to many economies of trade liberalization and facilitation in this sector. It allows the public and private sectors to work together to improve policy development, to identify barriers to growth and to develop effective cooperation mechanisms for APEC economies to address and reduce impediments.

The goals of the AD are to engage participants in cooperative efforts to foster the growth and development of the regional auto industry and to provide actionable recommendations to APEC Ministers and Leaders.

AD has a clearly defined set of priority action areas based on Leaders’ Declarations and Ministerial Statements as well as instructions from the Senior Officials and Committee on Trade and Investment. The directions for the activities of AD are also set in its Terms of Reference and Work Plan.

The AD first met in 1999 in Indonesia and has continued to meet every year since then.

The 27th AD Meeting was held in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, on 18-21 August 2017. The program included APEC-funded workshops on the Impact of Government Policy Instruments on Promoting New Energy Vehicles and on Implementing the APEC Electric Vehicles Roadmap as well as the Automotive Dialogue Plenary Meeting. The members shared information on the automotive industry and market situation and discussed a number of ongoing topics and initiatives, including integration of SME suppliers into automotive global value chains, implementation of the Electric Vehicles Roadmap, Compendium of Motor Vehicle-Related Taxes in APEC, Compendium of Automotive Business Regimes in APEC, and study of the impact of government policy instruments on promoting new energy vehicles.