THE APEC AGREEMENT
RECOGNISES THE SUBSTANTIAL EQUIVALENCE OF COMPETENCE STANDARDS FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS WITHIN THE APEC ECONOMIES.
The APEC agreement is in place between a number of APEC countries for the purposes of recognizing “substantial equivalence” of professional competence in engineering. APEC countries can apply to become members of the agreement by demonstrating that they have in place systems which allow the competence of engineers to be assessed to the agreed international standard set by the APEC Engineer agreement. Registration on the IPER register with APEC Engineer ensures that professional engineers have the opportunity to have their professional standing recognized within the APEC region thereby contributing to the globalization of professional engineering services. This is of particular benefit to engineering firms that are providing services to other APEC economies, but it also adds value to individuals who may wish, at some stage, to work in these economies. Each member economy of the APEC agreement has given an undertaking that the extra assessment required to be registered on the local professional engineering register will be minimized for those registered under the APEC Engineer agreement.