The APEC Automotive Dialogue (AD) is a forum where APEC officials and senior auto industry representatives 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 AD engages 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.

The AD has a clearly defined set of priority action areas based on Leaders’ declarations and ministerial statements as well as instructions from senior officials and the APEC 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 continues to discuss trade and trade-related regulatory issues affecting the competitiveness and sustainable development of the automotive industry in the Asia-Pacific region. The dialogue will continue to focus its discussion on market access, including free trade agreements, tax structure and regimes, and non-tariff measures; trade and business facilitation; harmonization of standards and regulations; new technologies; and economic and technical cooperation related to the automotive industry in the Asia-Pacific region.

Upcoming Events:

The next Auto Dialogue meeting is scheduled for Q3 2021

Last page update: June 2021

The 31st Automotive Dialogue meeting (AD31) took place from 3 to 5 December 2019 in Taipei, Chinese Taipei. This meeting lead to three major achievements.

• New AD Priorities of 2020: AD members endorsed 1) Mobility, 2) Autonomous Vehicles and 3) Capacity Building as three focused themes of AD for 2020.
• Development of the Guideline on Autonomous Driving: AD members reached a consensus on the Guidelines on Autonomous Vehicles. AD members agreed on the following schedule of cross-forum coordination to develop the Guideline in a comprehensive and APEC-wide manner.
  • Seek TPTWG members’ inputs or comments on the draft as part of cross-fora collaboration intercessionally in 2020
  • Seek AD’s final endorsement on a revised draft that may reflect TPTWG comments at the 32^nd AD meeting which will be held in Malaysia in April 2020
  • Seek endorsements of CTI3, SOM3 and possibly higher fora such as AMM and AELM in 2020
• Including electric scooters in the agenda item of New Technology: A Chinese Taipei company made a presentation on its business model of e-scooters and its technology that attracts more customers in Chinese Taipei market, to which many economies showed policy interest. AD members agreed to continue to discuss this topic by sharing information on policies that incentivize electric scooters.