History

The Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business was an initiative of Mr Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the German Federal Ministry of Economics. The conference’s purpose was to create a discussion forum for the stimulation of business involvement in Asia.   

The first APK was held in Tokyo in 1986 with a participation of 52 delegates. The conference agreed on encouraging German Foreign Trade Funding Organisations to amplify their focus on Asia and improve the coordination of their activities.

The second Asia-Pacific Conference in Jakarta in 1988 developed strategies on cooperation in foreign trade support and approved the 3-Column-Concept (Embassy, Chamber of Industry and Commerce Abroad, Federal Office for Foreign Trade Information).

In 1990, the third APK took place in Sydney. The conference focused on the current business promotion, on export and investment strategies.

Seoul in Korea was the host of the forth APK in 1992. The number of participants rose to 95 delegates. Main outcome of this APK was the initiation of the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business. Moreover, companies were encouraged to strengthen their presence in Asia-Pacific, mainly via technology transfer, joint ventures and foreign investment.

After the fifth APK in Bangkok in 1994 with more than 200 delegates, the number of participants successively rose to almost 800 during the sixth and seventh conferences in Delhi (1996) and Beijing (1998), respectively. The APK in Beijing dedicated its discussions almost exclusively to the Asian Crisis during 1997 and 1998.

In 2000, Kuala Lumpur hosted the Asia-Pacific Conference, focusing on business opportunities of German companies in the present region. Also within the eighth APK, country panels were introduced.

The ninth conference was held in Tokyo with around 700 guests. The German government requested to encourage business trips into the Asia-Pacific region and extend the pratice-oriented network of German Chambers Abroad.

In 2005, the APK again took place in Bangkok. 680 delegates participated in discussions on the topic “To increase the use of growing markets”. The tenth Asia-Pacific Conference decided on the expansion of partnerships in Asia and the elimination of trade barriers.

The eleventh APK was held in Seoul, Korea. Discussions were accomplished on globalisation, regional business strategies of companies in Asia, ASEAN, trends and challenges on foreign-political and security-political issues.

In 2010 the twelfth Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business with its focus on ASEAN will take place in Singapore.