Services Trade: Approach for the 21st Century (2011)
39 pages
ISBN: 978-981-07-1043-9 

This is a report of the task force established by the Asian Development Bank Institute and the PECC.  

Despite the fact that the services sector accounts for 68percent of value-add in the Asia-Pacific region, there is little known about the servicessector and has been the neglected component of international trade. It also accounts for61 percent of employment in the region, up from mere 27 percent when the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) was founded in 1989. While the services sector has cometo dominate the modern economy, international trade in services lags behind and theexports of goods among the APEC member economies are five times larger than exportsof services although both sectors have grown by almost 115 percent over the last decade.These are the key messages contained in the new publication being released by thePacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and the Asian Development Bank Institute(ADBI), Services Trade: Approaches for the 21st Century. Read more from the related press release.  

The concluding seminar of PECC international project on marine resources will take place in Auckland, New Zealand on December 4-5, 2012, led by FPTPEC and hosted by NZPECC and the University of Auckland. Four key topics will be discussed at the upcoming seminar:

1. Identification and exploitation of deep sea mineral and energy resources: identification of the existing resources, looking for new resources (eg. nodules, rare earth metals), the development of clusters and international alliances, technology transfer and innovation through PPPs, the legal framework, and the prevention of environmental risks;
2. Surveillance of oceans: Protecting fishing zones from non-authorized users, monitoring and fight against marine and coastal pollution, the development of an international early warning system to prevent potential environmental disasters; 
3. Oceans as a means of communication: Enhancing the competitiveness of small island economies by developing sea transportation; working towards a "hub and spoke" or a "point to point" model to link the economies; and
4. Development of high speed communication by optical fiber in the Pacific Rim to enhance economic and financial relations

Presentations and papers from the past two seminars are found here:

Seminar 1: Oceans at Risk - Protection from the Ocean to the Coast, Sharing Marine Resources, Noumea, New Caledonia (November 2011)

Seminar 2: Oceans as a Source of Renewable Energy, Hawaii, USA (March 2012)

At the end of the series of three seminars, presentation contents and recommendations will be published in the form of a PECC project publication. 

 

At the Standing Committee meeting of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council held in Singapore on Friday, Don Campbell, a Distinguished Fellow of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and Senior Strategic Advisor for Davis LLP, has been unanimously elected Co-Chair of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC).  He is also the Chair of Canadian National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (CANCPEC). Mr. Campbell’s former appointments with the Canadian government include Deputy Foreign Minister (1997-2000), Deputy Minister for International Trade (1989-1993), Ambassador to Japan (1993-1997), and Ambassador to Korea (1984-1985).  From 2000 to 2007, he was Group President of CAE Inc.

“As Asia grows in importance for Canada in terms of trade, geopolitics, and cultural exchanges, I am delighted to take this position and very much look forward to working with friends and colleagues of PECC network,” said Mr. Campbell. He assumes the position from Dr. Charles E. Morrison, President of the East-West Center, who has served last two terms (2005-2012) as PECC Co-Chair. Mr. Jusuf Wanandi, Member of the Board of the Trustees for the Centre for Strategic and International Studies of Indonesia, will serve another term as the other Co-Chair alongside Mr. Don Campbell. 

The Standing Committee members expressed the view that we must adapt to dynamic changes taking place in the region including the opening up of Myanmar. PECC should be prepared to engage even economies currently outside its membership with the aim of providing support wherever possible. Members agreed that PECC is not just about promoting trade among economies but also about building a sense of inclusive community and working together to achieve mutual prosperity within the region. 

Canada will host the next PECC General Meeting back-to-back with the next Standing Committee meeting in Vancouver in mid-2013.

Mr. Durzee Odkhuu has stepped down as the Chair of MONPECC and the former Vice-Chair of MONPECC Mr. Khalzkhuu Narankhuu MP has succeeded the former as the new Chair. Mr. Narankhuu has received an international economics degree from Kiev State University and has entered the foreign ministry in 1978. Since, he has held various senior positions including Minister for Industry and Trade during 2007-2008 and also as the General Director of Erdenet mining plant during 2000-2007. Since 2008, he is serving as a Member of Parliament for the State of Great Hural of Mongolia.

Opinion leaders of the Asia-Pacific region who gathered for the annual Singapore conference of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) assessed that the region would see continued sluggish growth in the next 12 months. This is largely due to the Euro zone expected to remain in recession for the time-being while domestic consumption also weakens in emerging economies. The speakers mainly representing policy think-tanks and government sectors from around the region voiced concerns with the projection of advanced economies moving beyond 100% debt versus GDP ratio by 2013. The region rebounded quickly in the aftermath of 1997-1998 financial crisis helped by strong export-led growth particularly seen in developing economies but it may not be the case this time. 

The speakers at the conference held over two days on April 26-27, 2012, said that the region’s policy-makers needed to think carefully about ways to improve fiscal stability and that it required a certain paradigm shift. Professor Wang Gungwu, Chairman of the Governing Board of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Chairman of the East Asia Institute, National University of Singapore, reiterated through his opening address that the recent financial crises that engulfed mainly “the American and European economies are the result of weak leadership and governance failure.” “Leaders would need the political will and courage to push for real change” and “this may involve a paradigm shift through which deep structural reforms are made,” he said. 

Mr. Jusuf Wanandi, Co-chair of PECC and Chair of Indonesian National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (INCPEC) emphasized: “There are new challenges facing the region and we must adjust to this environment. For example, Myanmar is emerging from its seclusion and we should be prepared to engage them in the broader Asia-Pacific platform.” 

The agenda for regional cooperation is also changing. There is an increasing realization that the regional agenda is now taking on more complex but much needed human and social issues such as healthcare. To promote inclusive growth, healthcare is a pre-requisite not just in terms of the numbers of doctors or hospital beds but also in terms of education, sanitation and income. We also need to reconsider the ways in which incentives are given. As expressed by Professor Ranga Krishnan, Dean of Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School of Singapore, doctors get paid based on the number of patients they see and hospitals get paid for the number of patients they admit. People need to be equipped with knowledge to make informed choices and service providers should be incentivised to offer the most appropriate and quality care. 

As part of its own efforts to promote trade liberalization the region is experimenting with various frameworks such as AEC (ASEAN Economic Community), ASEAN+ and the broader Asia-Pacific-centric initiatives such as TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), and EAFTA (East Asia Free Trade Area). The TPP has seemingly made the most progress having completed 11 negotiating rounds but the issues left are also perhaps the most difficult. Despite a wide range of different initiatives, there was a sense that these were all useful pathways towards the ultimate common goal of achieving a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific.

“The SINCPEC conference is a prelude to the APEC meetings to be held in Vladivostok, Russia in September this year,” said Associate Professor Tan Khee Giap, Chair of Singapore National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (SINCPEC). “And the objective of this conference was to provide ideas and suggestions on some of the major issues that leaders of the Asia-Pacific region need to address at this critical juncture,” he added. 

The Russian Ambassador to Singapore, Leonid Moiseev reiterated that Russia attaches great importance to strengthening its relevance in the Asia-Pacific region and that “Russia’s chairmanship in APEC is aimed at promoting the domestic economy integration into the system of economic ties in the Asia-Pacific for the sake of modernization and innovation-driven economic development.”  He said that while there is no “magic bullet” for social reforms as seen through the experiences of other economies around the world, it was essential to launch and activate new drivers of economic growth in Russia.

The plenary sessions focused on concurrent trade liberalization efforts, ways of nurturing Asia-Pacific growth, potential structural changes, as well as functional cooperation needed in areas such as food security, energy security, and new technologies in infrastructure and connectivity with views to secure regional growth. The wide range of discussions held at the SINCPEC conference set the scene for the PECC Standing Committee meeting which immediately followed, where members deliberated on the future role of the organization and its relevance to the region.

Download program agenda (pdf, 56KB)

The Hong Kong Government has appointed Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, Dean of School of Business and Professor of Finance at the Hong Kong Baptist University, as the new Chair of the HKCPEC (Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation). Prof. Cheung also holds advisory and adjunct professorships at Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University respectively. His major reserach interests include corporate finance, investment and financial market development. 

Prof. Cheung succeeds Professor Sung Yun-wing, who has dedicated eight years in the capacity of HKCPEC Chair. Eleven members consisting of three from the academic sector, six from the business, and two from the government have also been appointed members of HKCPEC:

(Academia)
- Professor Matthew Lee, CIty University of Hong Kong
- Professor Lim Chin-leng, University of Hong Kong
- Dr. Simon Shen, Hong Kong Institute of Education

(Business)
- Ms. Karen Chan, German Pool Group Co. Ltd.
- Ms. Chow Yuen-mei, Sea Horse (HK) Ltd.
- Mr. Michael Lee, MAP Capital Ltd.
- Mr. Edward Leung, Hong Kong Trade Development Council
- Ms. Pamela Mar, Li & Fund Group
- Mr. Joseph Wong, China Overseas Hotel and Land Development Ltd.

(Government)
- Mr. Raistlin Lau, Deputy Director-General of Trade and Industry (Vice Chair of HKCPEC)
- Ms. Elley Mao, Principal Economist 

On March 6th, 2012, the Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (HKCPEC) and the Trade and Industry Department jointly held a seminar entitled "Changing Global Landscape - Tailing Effect of the Financial Crisis from a Regional Economic Cooperation Perspective". More than 100 members of the academic, business and government sectors attended.

Speaking at the seminar, the Chairman of the HKCPEC, Professor Sung Yun-wing, introduced the HKCPEC and its activities. He said that given the growing importance of regional co-operation, the HKCPEC had conducted a series of programmes, including Youth Learning Projects, workshops and seminars, to promote the understanding of regional co-operation matters to the general public.

Professor Sung said that it has been more than three years since the financial tsunami first broke out in 2008 and the tailing effects are still haunting the world economy.

The downgrading of sovereign debt ratings in advanced economies had changed the global landscape and was bound to affect Asia-Pacific regional economic co-operation. The seminar aimed to analyse the opportunities ahead and the challenges we are facing.

During the seminar, the Head (Economic Research) of Research Department of Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Dr Lillian Cheung, talked about the likely impacts for the Asia-Pacific region from the rising sovereign debt issues in the advanced economies and the possible remedies. The former Head of Research, East, Global Research of Standard Chartered Bank, Mr Nicholas Kwan, shared his views on challenges for the financial and banking sector in the region in the changing dynamics in the world economy.

The Principal Economist of the Office of Regional Economic Integration of the Asian Development Bank, Dr Song Lei-lei, analysed the implications of a changing global landscape from the economic perspective. The Professor of Economics and Director, Centre for Public Policy Studies of Lingnan University, Professor Ho Lok-sang, spoke about the financial crises and the US Dollar, in particular on how a reform of the international monetary regime would contribute to a more stable world. The Chairman of Shinhint Acoustic Link Holdings Limited, Mr Jacky Cheung, shared the successful experience of his company in going through the ups and downs of the past years.

The Principal Economist of the Economic Analysis and Business Facilitation Unit of the Financial Secretary's Office, Miss Elley Mao, moderated a panel discussion with the five speakers on how the financial crisis has affected economic co-operation in the Asia-Pacific region as well as the roles of the government, business and academic sectors.

The HKCPEC was established in March 1990 to co-ordinate Hong Kong's participation in the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC).

Environmental Sustainability in Urban Centers: Efficiency and new technologies in the provision of urban services (2012)
184 pages
ISBN: 978-981-07-1027-9

This publication is a summary of presentations, discussions, and recommendations resulting from PECC seminars that focused on new technologies and efficient measures being applied at various urban centers in areas of public service and infrastructure.  Related industry leaders, academics, and urban policy-makers had gathered in Auckland (December 2009) and then in Perth (April 2011) to address the regional challenges and to share the best local practices. The entire report can be downloaded by clicking here (pdf, 3.14MB).

CANCPEC (Canada National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation) has appointed Hugh Stephens as the new Vice-Chair of CANCPEC. Mr. Stephens has more than 35 years of government and business experience in the Asia-Pacific region. Before returning to Canada in December 2009, he served as Senior Vice President, Public Policy (Asia Pacific) for Time Warner, based at the company’s regional headquarters in Hong Kong. He continues to serve as an advisor to the company. Prior to joining Time Warner in January 2001, Mr. Stephens spent 28 years with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) of Canada, including five diplomatic missions to Asia. His final assignment was as Assistant Deputy Minister for Policy and Communications at DFAIT. Mr. Stephens has served on the Executive Committee of the Boards of the US National Center for APEC and the US-Korea Business Council. He is currently on the Board of the Victoria chapter of the Canadian International Council and is a member of the Canadian Intellectual Property Council of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

This report is a summary of studies conducted by the PEO (Pacific Economic Outlook) Structure project group coordinated by Dr. Akira Kohsaka, Professor of International Studies at Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan. The PEO Structure group held two international meetings in March and September 2010 in Osaka, Japan. These meetings were hosted by the Japan Committee for PEO which is housed and staffed by the Kansai Institute for Social and Economic Research (KISER). The publication consists of an overview essay followed by executive summaries of individual economies/ regions contributed by specialists from PECC member economies.

OVERVIEW
- Macro-financial Linkages and Transmission of Financial Crises
- The Changing Patterns of International Capital Flows in East Asia
- Financial Developments in Emerging Markets
- Development of Domestic Financial Systems in East Asia
- Policy Implications

EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES
- Australia
- China
- Hong Kong, China
- Indonesia
- Japan
- The Philippines
- Chinese Taipei
- Thailand

For more information, please contact:

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T. +81-6-6441 5750
W. www.kiser.or.jp/peo/ja/index.php