Regional cooperation recipe for success

The high-profile meetings among the world's top leaders this month - from the Nov 5-11 APEC conference in Beijing to the G20 summit in Brisbane on Nov 15-16 - have raised hopes of finding solutions to the rising traditional and non-traditional security problems across the globe, as well as the geopolitical issues arising out of the Ukraine crisis.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Group of 20 may differ in their perceptions of global and regional governance, but they share a number of similarities when it comes to their long-term goals and functions, with the common principle being non-binding cooperation and agreement.

APEC is dedicated to building a pan-Pacific free trade zone, in which the free flow of products, services and capital will replace traditional trade and lift investment barriers. Likewise, in a broader sense, the G20 aims to achieve strong, balanced and sustainable growth in the world economy despite having members from as diverse economic and geographical regions as the European Union and Latin America.

Specifically, G20's 2 percent extra GDP growth target is one of APEC's priorities in regional economic growth. Infrastructure is another common trait the two organizations share; the G20 aims to build high-quality infrastructure across the world while the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting in Beijing last month issued a blueprint for public-private partnership (PPP) for infrastructure building. According to APEC's proposal, all members should set up their separate PPP centers, which can assess infrastructure projects and have access to enough funds to complete the projects. Financing such projects will be the function of organizations like the China-proposed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is expected to start operating soon as its 21 founding members, including Qatar and India, have already signed a memorandum of understanding.

In terms of financial supervision, the G20 lends more weight to its agenda whereas APEC focuses on providing financial services to real regional economies. And while the G20 contributes to the global taxation system by putting forward international tax measures, APEC focuses on recombining fiscal and tax policies.