Business as an Actor in Regional Governance: The Case of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) in APEC

Abstract

In the modern globalized world new actors, in particular business, exert increasing influence on the international decision-making processes. The business is generally important and influential actor in the regional governance promoting the group's common interests. The article aims to test this hypothesis drawing on the findings from study of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The author analyses the Asia-Pacific business priorities promoted by the ABAC, actions implemented to make other regional actors acting in line with these priorities and ABAC achievements in that process. The official ABAC and APEC documents constituted the evidence base for the analysis. The research methods used in the article include qualitative content analysis and comparative historical analysis. The author comes to conclusion that business is an influential actor in the Asia-Pacific regional governance due to its capability to promote business priorities implementation at the state level.