Amid growing strains on global trade and investment, what role is there for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC? Bert Hofman, former World Bank country director for China, Mongolia and Korea, offers a clear answer: APEC's real value is not in signing agreements, but in providing a table where major competitors can still work together. And the most important outcome of this year's APEC meeting in Shenzhen, he says, is trust: trust in trade, and trust in the power of international cooperation.