The APEC Symposium and Informal Senior Meeting took place on 8-9 December at the East West Center in Honolulu. The meeting kicks off an important year for APEC as the region continues to deal with uncertainty over future growth and high levels of unemployment.
The APEC Symposium was an opportunity for Senior Officials to hear views from outside experts on some of the key issues that APEC could be addressing in the coming years. The topics addressed during the symposium were: Growth for the 21st Century: Green growth; Developing a Next Generation Trade and Investment Agenda for APEC; and Promoting Regulatory Cooperation and Convergence in the Asia-Pacific. Former USTR, Ambassador Susan Schwab delivered the keynote address highlighting the role the APEC group of economies can play in bringing a conclusion to the WTO Doha Round of negotiations.
PECC co-chair, Dr. Charles E. Morrison delivered welcoming remarks in his capacity as President of the East West Center.
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21-22 October 2010 (Tokyo)
The 19th PECC General Meeting was held in Tokyo on 21-22 October 2010, hosted by the Japan National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (JANCPEC). The theme of this year's Meeting was “PECC at 30: New Vision for APEC and Toward Further Regional Economic Cooperation."
The plenary sessions, covering the following main topics, consisted of presentations and discussions among the region's top visionaries and sectoral experts. See www.pecc19.org for more details.
Summary report and presentations
MEMBER UPDATES
USAPC: Amb. Richard Holbrooke passes away
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, special envoy of President Obama to Pakistan and Afghanistan passed away on 13 December. Ambassador Holbrooke played a key role in the founding of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) in 1980 as the government representative of the United States in the Canberra Seminar that led to the establishment of PECC. He was joined in the US delegation by Dr. Lawrence Krause, Brookings Institution, and Mr. Richard Wheeler, Senior Vice President, Citibank. More...
PUBLICATIONS
State of the Region 2010-2011
Even as the economic recovery from the downturn of 2009 gathers momentum across much of Asia-Pacific, there is great uncertainty in the region about the durability of the recovery. The risk of another economic downturn stems less from a renewed bout of financial sector problems than from a failure of international economic cooperation.
This year's annual report, State of the Region was released at a media briefing held in the International Media Center on the sidelines of APEC Leaders' and Senior Official Meetings. Mr. Yuen Pau Woo, as the Coordinator of the Report, briefed the press and took questions from the media who attended.
Download State of the Region 2010-2011
DISCUSSION FORUM
Dr. Andrew Elek (AUSPECC)
Australian National University
(This article is cross-posted from East Asia Forum)
APEC 2011: Can the US Deliver?
The most important objective of international economic cooperation in 2011 is to conclude the Doha Round. The United States has the influence to do that if it is prepared to show political initiative and have realistic expectations of others. The APEC group can also provide leadership within the G20 to tackle global problems. More...
Dr. Ippei Yamazawa (JANCPEC)
Professor Emeritus, Hitotsubashi University
2010 APEC Yokohama was completed three weeks ago with three major achievements, first the mid-term assessment of its Bogor target, second a concrete direction toward Free trade Area for the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), and third APEC’s growth strategy. The first two give us a future prospect for APEC’s main activity of Trade Investment Liberalization and Facilitation (TILF), while the last packages its new initiatives undertaken for the past decade in order to combat with changing economic environment in the region. Discussion has so far focused on TPP as a possible route to FTAAP but others seem to be missed since the Yokohama meetings. This short essay aims to discuss both the first agenda and continued TILF of the second. More...
PECC GM XIX Youth Delegation Report on Food Security
Recognizing the access to adequate food sources as a fundamental requirement for human security and national security, we, the 2010 PECC Youth Delegation have compiled the following report in the hope that it may inform discussions within PECC in regards to the issue of food security. More...
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Newsletter 
Dr. Charles E. Morrison, co-chair of PECC and president of the East West Center, delivered 