The Pacific region includes some of the largest service exporters in the world. Yet, there has been inadequate study and transparency around the regulation of services trade and investment which offer the potential for greater economic growth and efficiency in cross-border trade.

'Services Trade: New Approaches for the 21st Century' conference was held on 1-3 June 2011 in Hong Kong, China in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Economic Research Centre of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (HKIAPS), and the Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).

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View the opening addresses (via YouTube)

Download presentations and relevant research papers

More about the project...

The 7th PECC International Trade and Investment Fair/ 18th Tianjin Investment and Trade Fair took place from 28 May to 1 June 2011 at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center of Tianjin. The annual event draws large crowds from the industry and the general public each year from various parts of the world and consists not only of industrial exhibitions but also investment talks, educational seminars, and cultural expo. More...

PECC was represented by Co-chair, Dr. Charles E. Morrison at the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting and the Second Senior Officials Meeting (SOM2) of the year hosted by the United States. The Third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM3) and related meetings will be held in San Francisco during 12-26 September 2011.

Download the full PECC Statement delivered at MRT (19 May 2011)

Download the full PECC Statement delivered at SOM2 (17 May 2011) 

Environmental Sustainability in Urban Centers, 11-13 April 2011, Perth | Australia

PECC held the concluding seminar of the three-year (2009-2011) international project in Perth, Australia on 11-13 April 2011. The objective of the project was to compile the best practices from around the Pacific region in respect to providing the public services and infrastructure that are environmentally friendly as well as efficient. More...

Program agenda

Executive summary (pdf 660KB)

Presentations in PDF (individual download)

COMING UP...

SINCPEC Conference: Growing APEC Economies: New Challenges and Approaches, 29-30 June 2011, Singapore

This conference is a prelude to the APEC meeting in Honolulu at the end of 2011. The objective of this conference organised by SINCPEC in collaboration with USAPC is to provide ideas and suggestions on the major issues that leaders of the Asia-Pacific region have identified, focusing on growing trade services and employment in APEC as well as the management of capital flows within the region.

Tentative program (as of 21 June 2011) (pdf 160KB)

Social Resilience International Workshop, 12 July 2011, Tokyo | Japan

The Japanese National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (JANCPEC) will hold PECC International Workshop on Social Resilience on 12 July 2011 in Tokyo to discuss measures to strengthen social safety nets in the Asia-Pacific region. The workshop will consist of four sessions including pension system, health care system, unemployment insurance scheme, and macroeconomic analysis. Experts will present situations and prospects of social securities in the region to discuss how to make the region's societies more robust and resilient against economic crises. More...

Download tentative program agenda

CTPECC: Youth Camp, 30 June - 1 July 2011, Chinese Taipei

The annual CTPECC Youth Camp is scheduled to take place in July this year. The purpose of the youth camp is to inform undergraduate students of important current international affairs and to equip them with skills needed to analyze and deliberate on global economic and political affairs. More...

26th Pacific Economic Community Seminar on Structural Unemployment, 13-14 October 2011, Taipei | Chinese Taipei

The recent global crisis had serious impacts not only on economic development but also on labor markets in the region. Current unemployment rates are still much higher than the pre-crisis level despite a GDP upturn, which implies that the unemployment problem could be structure-related. Accelerating the recovery of job markets is essential for reviving the economy as well as maintaining social stability. More...

The first of the series of three under the PECC International Project (2011-2012), Sustainable Management of Marine Resources, the above seminar will take place in Noumea, New Caledonia on 21-24 November 2011. The seminar will bring together academics, policy-makers, and business executives to discuss and examine the consequences of climate change on oceans, exploitative versus responsible usage of marine resources as food, energy, and goods, treatment of solid and liquid waste in coastal areas and vessels, as well as the ways to achieve sustainable management of biodiversity in and around the oceans. Case studies from different economies, best practices and innovative approaches will be shared through these seminars. More...

MEMBER COMMITTEE UPDATES

Dr. Wook Chae, President of KIEP (Korea Institute for International Economic Policy), succeeds Dr. Soogil Young as the chair of the Korean committee for PECC (KOPEC), effective 7 March 2011. Dr. Chae has been reappointed the President of KIEP in May 2011 upon completion of his initial three-year term. Dr. Chae, who earned his Ph. D in economics from the University of Michigan in 1990, is a leading Korean expert on trade policy issues. The former chair of KOPEC, Dr. Young will continue to focus on the economics of "low carbon green growth" as the chair of the presidential committee on green growth. More...

HKCPEC: Annual Meeting, 8 June 2011, Hong Kong | China

The 46th Meeting of the Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (HKCPEC) was held on 8 June 2011 at the Trade and Industry Department office. The meeting agenda included:

• Youth Outreach Programme 2011/12;
• Updates on the 20th General Meeting and Standing Committee Meeting of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) to be held in Washington DC, USA in September 2011;
• HKCPEC's participation in the Pacific Economic Outlook Structure Specialists' Meeting held in Osaka, Japan in September 2010;
• PECC State of the Region Survey conducted in September and October 2010;
• Reports on the outcomes of the 19th General Meeting and Standing Committee Meeting of the PECC held in Tokyo, Japan in October 2010; and
• "Services Trade: New Approaches for the 21st century" conference jointly organised by PECC and Asian Development Bank Institute in Hong Kong.

More...

USAPC: Washington Report, May 2011

The latest issue of the bi-monthly newsletter published by USAPC, Washington Report features an interview with Dr. Sheila A. Smith from the Council on Foreign Relations:  "Japan's Tohoku Crisis: Implications for Domestic Politics, Recovery, and Alliance Relations." More...

Don Gunasekera, Senior Economist, CSIRO, Canberra

Preparing for Natural Disasters in the Asia-Pacific Region

The 2004 Asian tsunami illustrated the disproportionate impact that natural disasters have on poorer communities. More recent natural disasters in New Zealand, Japan, Australia and the US have shown that even well-to-do communities can be significantly hard hit by the impact of catastrophic and severe weather events. More...