Asian Productivity Organization

The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) is a nonpolitical, nonprofit, and nondiscriminatory organization devoted to productivity of Asian countries.
Established on 11 May 1961, as a regional intergovernmental organization, the APO contributes to the sustainable socioeconomic development of Asia–Pacific through productivity enhancement.
The APO’s scope of support for its members covers the two most important production sectors of member economies — industry and agriculture.
APO’s official logo is a montage of two icons: a gear, depicting industry; and grains on stalks, representing agriculture. The abbreviation APO appears at the base, denoting the APO’s role as the connecting entity.

Vision

APO aims to enable APO economies to be more productive and competitive by 2020.

Mission

To contribute to the sustainable socioeconomic development of Asia and the Pacific through enhancing productivity.

History

1960

Though APO was established in 1961, the 1st Asian Round Table Productivity Conference was held in Tokyo,Japan in 1959 wherein interim committee was assigned to draft a convention for the formation of an Asian productivity body.
In 1960, the 2nd Asian Round Table Productivity Conference was held in Manila, the Philippines and the draft convention was adopted as the charter of the Asian Productivity Organization. The APO was formally established with eight founding members: the Republic of China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand.
However, it was only in 1967, that the Government of Japan granted APO, the official status as an international organization.

1980

The APO marked its 25th anniversary with an International Productivity Congress in Kuala Lumpur in 1986.The first Top Management Forum was implemented in Japan in 1985.

2000's

The 1st Eco-products International Fair was organized by the APO in 2004 in Kuala Lumpur and the 11th EPIF is to be held in Vietnam from 11–13 May 2017. In 2003, the first APO web-based videoconferencing project on TQM was organized.

2010s

Dr. Santhi Kanoktanaporn, an industry veteran with over 40 years of hands-on experience, held office as the 11th Secretary-General of the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) on 16 September 2016.
He took over from Mari Amano, who served the term from 2010-2016. Marking its golden jubilee in 2011, the APO adopted a new mission, vision, and thrust areas for 2020.
In 2013, The 1st Asian Food and Agribusiness Conference was held in the Republic Of China.

APO Member Countries

List of member countries and their year of joining the APO

List of Secretary Generals

Initiatives

E-Learning Programmes

APO offers diverse e-Learning courses in a variety of formats, namely, videoconferencing, Web (Internet)-based platforms for live sessions, and self-learning e-courses.
Offering dual advantage, e-Learning courses broaden the APO’s outreach and also identify participants with outstanding performance, who are then selected for multi country, face-to-face advanced training courses to consolidate their learning.
The latest self-learning e-coursecourse was organized by APO in cooperation with the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) with the objective of providing basic understanding of fundamental productivity concepts, principles, and tools.
Titled ‘APO SELF-LEARNING E-COURSE ON (BASIC) PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES’, the course was organised from May 1 to September 20, 2016.

GP2020

Launched in 1994 in line with the 1992 Earth Summit recommendations, Green Productivity focuses on the key strategies — economic development and environmental protection for sustainable development. With the support from the government of Japan, the APO introduced GP as a practical way to answer the challenge of sustainable development.
The APO’s GP Program aims to enhance productivity and reduce the negative impacts on the environment by propagating GP consciousness. The APO pledges to continue the progress in the Asia-Pacific Region and through cooperation extend GP to accelerate a growing green global marketplace.

EPIFs

One of the largest environmental fairs in Asia, EPIFs showcase the most advanced environmentally friendly products, technologies, and services to enhance sustainable development and competitiveness.
The APO, supported by the GPAC, has organized the EPIFs since 2004. In 2005, more than 4,000 people attended the fair where a platform was provided to raise environmental awareness, encourage greening of supply chains, support growing green markets, and involve the public in creating a better environment through the use of eco-products, eco-technologies, and eco-services.