The APEC Peru 2008 summit was the twentieth annual gather of APEC leaders. The meet was primarily a series of political-economic meetings, which were held in Peru between the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), although business leaders of the region also met before the summit officially began. Leaders from all the member countries met from November 22 to the 23 2008 in the capital city of Lima.

The 21-members account for 60 percent of the world's gross domestic product.

Peru has been a full member of APEC since 1998. Its participation began when Malaysia hosted the forum's summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Since 2004, Colombia and Ecuador have been expecting to join APEC when Peru hosts the meeting, but in APEC Australia 2007, the leaders agreed not to allow any more members until 2010.

The logo for the APEC Peru 2008 summit was created by the advertising designer Nilton García Tejada, who, in 2004, won a contest convened by the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to design a logo identifying Peru's chairmanship of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum for 2008.

Peru ⁱ/pəˈruː/ (Spanish: Perú; Quechua: Perú;Aymara: Piruw), officially the Republic of Peru (Spanish: República del Perú, pronounced: [reˈpuβlika ðel peˈɾu] ( listen)), is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.

Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures, spanning from the Norte Chico civilization, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty, which included most of its South American colonies. After achieving independence in 1821, Peru has undergone periods of political unrest and fiscal crisis as well as periods of stability and economic upswing.

Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. Its geography varies from the arid plains of the Pacific coast to the peaks of the Andes Mountains and the tropical forests of the Amazon Basin. It is a developing country with a high Human Development Index score and a poverty level around 31%. Its main economic activities include agriculture, fishing, mining, and manufacturing of products such as textiles.

Jack Ma (simplified Chinese: 马云; traditional Chinese: 馬雲; pinyin: Mǎ Yún; born September 10, 1964) is the founder, chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, he is formally an English teacher at Hangzhou Teachers College.

Ma was born in the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. Ma attended Hangzhou Teachers College and graduated in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in English. Ma initially failed the entrance exam twice. While at the school, Ma was elected student chairman. He later became a lecturer in English and International Trade at the Hangzhou Dianzi University. Ma first started building websites for Chinese companies with the help of friends in the US. Ma has commented that "The day we got connected to the Web, I invited friends and TV people over to my house," and on a very slow dial-up connection, "we waited three and a half hours and got half a page.... We drank, watched TV and played cards, waiting. But I was so proud. I proved (to my house guests that) the Internet existed"^{[original research?]}

Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (born 28 March 1946) is a politician who was President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He was elected in April 2001, defeating former President Alan García. Toledo came to international prominence after leading the opposition against President Alberto Fujimori, who held the presidency from 1990 to 2000.

Born into a family of indigenous campesinos (peasants) of Quechua heritage and living in extreme poverty, he was one of sixteen brothers and sisters. He was born in the village of Ferrer, Bolognesi, but registered in the nearby town of Cabana, Pallasca Province, Ancash Department. He grew up in Chimbote, a city on Peru's northern coast, where from the age of six, he worked shining shoes and selling newspapers and lottery tickets.

After a childhood filled with multiple jobs and living in impovershed conditions, Toledo eventually found employment as a news correspondent for La Prensa in Chimbote, where he interviewed several high-ranking politicians. At age 20, with guidance from members of the Peace Corps, Toledo enrolled at the University of San Francisco on a one-year scholarship. He completed the BA program in economics and business administration at USF by obtaining a partial soccer scholarship and working part-time pumping gas. He later attended Stanford University, earning a master's in Economics and the Economics of Human Resources, he then earned a PhD in the Economics of Human Resources in 1993 at the Stanford University School of Education.

Stephen Joseph Harper, PC MP (born April 30, 1959) is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election. He is the first prime minister from the newly reconstituted Conservative Party, following a merger of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties.

Harper has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Calgary Southwest in Alberta since 2002. Earlier, from 1993 to 1997, he was the MP for Calgary West. He was one of the founding members of the Reform Party, but did not seek re-election, and instead joined, and shortly thereafter led, the National Citizens Coalition. In 2002, he succeeded Stockwell Day as leader of the Canadian Alliance (the successor to the Reform Party) and returned to parliament as Leader of the Opposition. In 2003, he reached an agreement with Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay for the merger of their two parties to form the Conservative Party of Canada. He was elected as the party's first non-interim leader in March 2004.