For 2008, CTI is focusing its work program on the Regional Economic Integration (REI) report that was endorsed by APEC Leaders in September 2007. At its first meeting in Lima in February, the Committee adopted, amongst other things, work plans with clear time frames, objectives and deliverables in three key areas: RTAs/FTAs, Trade Facilitation and Digital Economy and Strengthening IPR. A trade policy dialogue on aspects of the relationship between investment, trade in services and trade in goods was jointly organized by the Investment Experts Group (IEG), Group on Services (GOS) and Market Access Group (MAG) on 25 February 2008 in Lima. The points raised at the dialogue aimed to provide economies with preliminary ideas about the elements that go into making investment decisions and hence could facilitate the work on developing an Investment Facilitation Action Plan.

Some of the key highlights of the Committee's achievements in 2008 include::

• Agreement on another three sets of model measures for RTAs/FTAs in the following areas: competition policy, environment and temporary entry of business people. The model measures were endorsed by the APEC Ministers for Responsible for Trade (MRT) at their meeting on 31 May to 1 June in Arequipa, bringing the total number endorsed by Ministers to thirteen.
• Adoption of a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and reporting methodologies to measure the progress of implementing the agreed actions and measures in TFAPII for implementation by sub-fora collectively. The Committee also agreed as next steps, to commence work on trade logistics, starting with a Trade Policy Dialogue (TPD) in February 2009.
• Development of an Investment Facilitation Action Plan for 2008-2010 (IFAP) for endorsement by MRT 2008 as mandated by AMM in Sydney. CTI also agreed on the next steps for carrying the IFAP forward including developing a work program on implementation of the actions in the IFAP as well as those related to methodologies to reporting progress for endorsement by Ministers Responsible for Trade in 2009.
• Held a trade policy dialogue on docking or merging free-trade agreements (FTAs). The dialogue helped members to better understand the technical and policy issues as well as the findings of the studies undertaken by Peru and New Zealand of convergences/divergences of the market access, rules of origin, customs procedures, SPS, TBT, trade remedies and competition policy.
• Held a trade policy dialogue on the effects of the rules of origin (ROOs) on trade. The dialogue helped members to better understand the challenges faced with differing interpretations for ROOs. CTI agreed to convene another trade policy dialogue in May 2009 to build on the ROO work that is undertaken in the Market Access Group.
• Development of a preliminary work plan to advance work on CTI-related REI actions in 2009.

In 2007, APEC Ministers endorsed the 2007 Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) Annual Report to Ministers, which provided an overview of CTI's work program in pursuit of advancing the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. Some key results:

• Agreed on three sets of model measures, for RTAs/FTAs in the following areas: electronic commerce; rules of origin and origin procedures; and sanitary and phytosanitary measure, which complement the seven endorsed by Ministers in 2005 and 2006.
• Agreed on APEC's Second Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAP II) to reduce trade transaction costs in the Asia-Pacific region by a further 5 percent by 2010.
• Developed a set of Model Guidelines to Strengthen IPR Capacity Building, which will help member economies devise more effective activities to promote IPR protection and enforcement.
• Developed an APEC Cooperation Initiative on Patent Acquisition Procedures.
• Agreed on an APEC Best Practices Paper on Innovative Techniques for IPR Border Enforcement.