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Issues of accepting new APEC members should be solved in consensus – Russian deputy PM

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation includes 19 countries and 2 territories

SAN FRANCISCO /California/, November 18. /TASS/. Russia assumes that decisions on accepting new APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) members, including India, should be made in consensus, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk who heads the country’s delegation at the APEC summit in San Francisco (California), said.

"Representatives of India, Colombia were present on the first day here, but you know, all those issues are solved in consensus in APEC," he told reporters when asked about India possibly joining the organization.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation comprises 19 countries and 2 territories. These include 12 founding economies: Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, the United States, Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea, and Japan. Other members are China (joined in 1991), Mexico and Papua New Guinea (1993), Chile (1994), Russia, Vietnam and Peru (1998). Two Chinese territories, Hong Kong and Taiwan, joined APEC in 1991.