The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, is a regional economic forum comprised of 21 economies located along the Pacific Rim. The APEC region is home to 38 percent of the world’s population and represents approximately 48 percent of trade in goods and services as well as 62 percent of world GDP. APEC’s strength is its voluntary, non-binding and consensus-building principles, which provide members a forum for discussion and agreement leading to commitments and policy action. This publication gives an overview of APEC's goals, what it does, how it operates, and what makes it different.