This paper tries to assess the role of APEC as an institution in promoting investment liberalization and facilitation in the region, focusing on the process and mechanisms by which it makes progress towards its goal of a free and open investment. APEC has made a difference in promoting liberalization of investment regimes and in facilitating the flow of investment in the region. This could be observed from the improved levels of openness and transparency of the investment regimes of member economies. While credit may not go to APEC alone, as member economies as pushing for liberalization under more than one initiative, APEC had helped speed up the liberalization process. But more work is at hand as impediments to investment still exist. The challenge for APEC is to use its progress on investment as the launching pad of initiatives for the new WTO round. In particular, APEC can influence the WTO to make use of the NBIP and the menu of options to expand or improve work on TRIMs, GATS, TRIPs and competition policy that would best serve the interests of its own membership. But at the same time, APEC can use the WTO process to achieve its own objectives and agenda. Ultimately, a successful round will add credibility to APEC, as this would mean member economies now binding themselves to implementing their APEC-WTO commitments.
