ＡＰＥＰ—Ｂｕｉｌｄｉｎｇ ａ Ｂｒｉｄｇｅ ｏｆ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ｔｈｒｏｕｇｈ Ｅｘｃｈａｎｇｅｓ

At the invitation of the Atlantic and Pacific Exchange Programme (APEP)， I went to the Netherlands in March to do a 2-week fieldwork. Though my stay was short， the warmth and friendliness of the Dutch friends and their pragmatism， efficiency and flexibility in work left an unforgettable impression on me.

On starting my practice， Lia Rosenbrand， managing director of the APEP， gave me a brief introduction of the APEP. Founded in 1983， the APEP is a nongovernmental and non-profit foundation aiming to promote international understanding and cooperation through nongovernmental exchanges. The main participants in its exchange programmes are leaders of political and business circles， journalists and editors from Western Europe， North America and Asia (mainly China， Japan and India). The APEP adopts membership system and now has about 40 members including government departments， multinational corporations and large institutions. Its annual membership dues are about 10，000 euro. It started to develop friendly and cooperative relations with the CPAFFC in 1992. Hans Dijkstal， its current chairman and former deputy prime minister of the Netherlands， enjoys high prestige in the country and has led delegations to China twice. The APEP is one of the important channels through which the CPAFFC carries out friendly cooperation in the Netherlands.

The APEP has a crowded day-to-day work schedule. Take the year 2006 as an example， the APEP organized 17 tailor-made study trips. To my surprise， there are only six staffers in the APEP’s management team， but they are responsible for all the matters including designing and proving every project， working out the itinerary， making contacts， booking air tickets， making hotel reservations， etc. How can they deal with such a large amount of work? Besides， the funds of the APEP mainly come from the annual membership dues， and members join the APEP on a voluntary basis， how then does the APEP attract and increase its members to ensure its sustained development? With these questions in mind， I began my fieldwork as arranged by the APEP. I was involved in the APEP’s day-to-day work and concrete projects. I looked up its recent years’ files， hoping to find out in the shortest possible time the secret to its success.

During my practice， according to its work schedule， the APEP released four staffers to accompany me on my visit. They took good care of me， told me about the local conditions and customs and answered my questions about the APEP. On my request， they arranged for me to visit local families and have contact with young people， enabling me by face-to-face contacts to know about and experience their country’s multi-culture. Managing Director Elaine Springford said， the APEP， as a nongovernmental organization， pays great attention to keeping neutral in views and at the same time does its best in its organizing and reception work to move people with its sincerity. I had an actual experience of what she said. When the APEP staffers told me about some social phenomena in the Netherlands， they acquainted me with both the good and bad sides and let me judge by myself. They paid attention to the differences between Western and Chinese cultures， and respected and showed consideration for my habits. From this I clearly see the characteristics and advantages of the work of a nongovernmental organization， i.e.， when expressing its views it does not impose them on others， and when forming friendly relations with others， it is not anxious for quick results.

In designing projects for study， the APEP pays attention to combining these projects with hot-spot issues at the time and provides useful information as reference for the participants to make a correct judgment of the situation and solve practical problems. For instance， during my fieldwork there， in view of the spreading worldwide financial crisis， the APEP was planning a visit to the U.K. and the U.S. to study the prospects of the financial crisis. I was fortunate to accompany Ms. Elaine Springford on her meeting with Ronald Gerritse， secretary general of the Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands， to discuss APEP’s plan. Mr. Gerritse said， he was willing to head the delegation and gave concrete suggestions about the plan. Mr. Gerritse is an adviser and brain truster most valued and trusted by the Dutch finance minister. He has drafted a series of important policies and programmes of the Ministry of Finance during the financial crisis. Due to its proper selection of the subject for study and the head of the delegation， this project was welcomed by many large Dutch financial institutions.

APEP’s projects involve in varied fields including politics， economy and social life; and the range of study covers Europe， the U.S. and major Asian countries. For instance， there are special subjects like “Justice in the United States”，“Innovation， collaboration and IT in India”， “Battling against the Obesity Epidemic in the U.K.”， etc.， fully demonstrating the extensiveness and variety of the subjects of these projects. Usually the APEP carefully designs the subjects for study on the basis of the requirement of its members. Once a project is decided， it tries every means to get in touch with the most authoritative and influential experts， government officials or enterprises in the relevant fields of the relevant countries to have talks and cooperate with them to implement the project. Through expanding its channels of work and building a platform for all-directional exchanges， the APEP not only guarantees the quality of its projects， but also raises its popularity and reputation.

The APEP takes the consolidation and development of its interpersonal relationship network as the basis to carry out its projects. In the past more than 20 years since its founding， the APEP through recruiting new members and carrying out study trips has established extensive interpersonal relationships in many countries. While carrying out new projects and making new friends， it constantly strengthens contacts with friends in other countries and timely updates its interpersonal relationship network by paying regular calls， distributing its publications and promptly reporting the results of the study at different stages.