The 16th annual APEC CEO Summit is now under way in Honolulu, Hawaii, with Business Roundtable-member CEOs and BRT-affiliated companies participating in the gathering that brings together government officials and private-sector leaders from the 21 APEC economies spanning the Pacific Ocean.

These 21 APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation) economies collectively account for 41 percent of the world's population, 44 percent of world trade, 54 percent of global GDP, and 2.7 billion consumers. Seven of the United States' top 15 trade partners are in APEC, and U.S. exports to APEC in 2010 accounted for almost 60 percent of overall U.S. exports. Given figures like these, the importance of expanding the U.S. economic and strategic presence in the Asia-Pacific region -- such as through APEC and the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks involving nearly half the APEC economies -- is evident.

Reflecting the importance of the APEC region, at this week's APEC CEO Summit, there are some 1,200 registered delegates like myself, 1,500 registered media members; and 13 participating heads of state. (In the photo below, Doug Oberhelman, CEO of Caterpillar, Inc. and chairman of the BRT's International Engagement Committee, addresses the forum on globalization.)

The summit activities began Thursday, including with the National Center for APEC's business lunch, of which BRT was a sponsor. At the lunch, Senior White House NSC official Mike Froman and a Russian business leader discussed a wide range of issues, including the importance of forums like APEC and the recent G-20 meetings for bringing government and business leaders together to discuss pressing economic and other issues. They also discussed the significance of Russia's progress towards joining the WTO and Russia's hosting of APEC next year. Lastly, they discussed the momentum generated by the recent, good bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress for the approved U.S. trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea, and Panama and efforts to build on that momentum with the TPP talks, ongoing WTO Doha Round discussions, and efforts to bring Russia into the WTO.

Many more APEC meetings will take place over the next several days. A key value of such forums is in creating opportunities across these 21 APEC economies to discuss issues of common interest with regional and indeed global implications. While some have criticized APEC over time as being a non-binding forum, others make a persuasive case that its non-binding nature and meetings such as these are a key strength, allowing ideas to be more freely discussed, and that APEC has helped inform binding trade negotiations such as the WTO and TPP talks.