The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) was established on 11may 1961 with eight founding members. They were the republic of china, India, Japan, The Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand. The founding was preceded by two Asian Round Table Productivity Conference in 1959 and 1960, respectively. The first, held in Tokyo, was to explore the possibility of establishing an Asian Productivity Organization.

The conference decided to set up an interim committee to study and determine ways to achieve the goal and to draft the convention. The Second conference, which met in Manila, considered and adopted the draft convention which was to constitute the charter of Asian Productivity Organization. The convention was finally accepted at signing conference in Manila in April 1961, followed by the establishment of APO. The inaugural session of he APO governing body was held in Tokyo on 22-26 may 1961.

The first decade from 1961 to 1970 signified the decade of establishment where the APO laid its basic foundation for its activities with 14 member countries joining the fold one after another.

The second decade from 1971 to 1980 witnessed a decade of consolidation initiated by a group of wise men who reviewed the APO's activities and identified core areas for developing programs which should meet the felt-needs of member countries. It was also during this period when the APO flag was designed and officially adopted.

The third decade, 1981 to 1990, emerged as the decade of expansion with the deepening of the productivity movement in the respective member countries. It contributed to instituting closer linkages between productivity increase and economic growth, and more rigorous involvement by the National Productivity Organizations in national economic development.

The fourth decade from 1991 to 2000 undoubtedly marked the decade of dynamic change and innovation triggered by such issues as economic globalization, the environment, IT, and poverty. Accordingly, the ultimate goal of productivity has expanded to embrace the achievement of a better quality of life for all people.    

Asia has shown remarkable economic advancement since 1961- the year of APO was established. It would be the next to impossible to measure APO’s accomplishments by calculating the aggregate of productivity increase to express the same in terms of statistical figures. This is because productivity involves such a wide range of activities and factors that any attempt to show result would be futile. However, it is genetically accepted that the pace of economic development is faster in countries where there are productivity organization working efficiently, and that propagating productivity concepts and applying productivity techniques will invariable accelerate the rate of growth.