PECC mourns the passing of Ambassador Roberto Romulo

Ambassador Roberto Romulo being presented with a token of appreciation by then PECC co-chair, Mr Jusuf Wanandi at the PECC General Meeting in 2015 for this services to the organization.

PECC mourns the passing of Ambassador Roberto Romulo. Bobby Romulo served as the PECC chair from 1996-1999 and as chair of the Philippines PECC committee from 1996 to 2005. He was also the founding chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council.

Former chair of the New Zealand PECC committee and Emeritus Professor Gary Hawke fondly recalled that “Roberto Romulo was one of the major figures of PECC in my time. I remember him for many contributions, both personal and institutional, but not least because I often use his definition of " concerted unilateralism". Organizations like APEC are just like Alcoholics Anonymous. Members know perfectly well what they should do; they also know that their future depends on what they themselves do; but they gain strength by coming together from time to time and sharing ...

State of the Region 2021 - 2022

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the year and a half since the global pandemic started the Asia-Pacific economy has undergone an extraordinary decline but is set to post a sharp recovery this year thanks to unprecedented policy support and the remarkable innovation and manufacture of vaccines.

The region is expected to grow by 6.1 percent in 2021 and 5.1 percent in 2022. PECC’s annual survey of the regional policy community (run from 12 August to 17 September) shows a sense of optimism among respondents with 55 percent expecting stronger economic growth for the world economy next year.

However, the divergent recovery from the crisis is evident in forecasts as well as in the views of respondents for specific economies and sub-regions. Respondents are far more optimistic about the prospects for growth for those economies that had achieved higher levels of vaccination at the time they were surveyed, notably, the United States and China. This underscores the importanc...

PECC Statement to APEC Finance Ministers

 Dr Richard Cantor, International Co-Chair represented PECC at the APEC Finance Ministers Meeting held on 22 October 2021. At their meeting Finance Ministers from the Asia-Pacific shared views on responding to COVID-19 for a sustainable and inclusive recovery and the use of fiscal policy and budget management to address ongoing challenges.

Dr Cantor, also the chair of the USPECC committee and the Chief Credit Officer for Moody’s Corporation and Moody’s Investors Service shared highlights from PECC’s forthcoming State of the Region report with the region’s Finance Ministers. With economic growth returning to the region, our respondents are fairly optimistic. However, expectations for growth diverged significantly between economies, with respondents most optimistic about the growth prospects for economies with relatively high vaccination rates.

He underscored that achieving regional and global goals to reduce carbon requires major structural changes of the economy and major coordi...

CTPECC: The 36th Pacific Economic Community Seminar: Economic Transformation and the Future of Work in the Asia-Pacific after the Pandemic

The COVID-19 is bringing the globe and the Asia-Pacific irreversible changes in terms of our economy and social interactions, on which our regional order and agenda for cooperation is underpinned. Supply chains of strategic significance are about to be restructured, while people call for a more sustainable way to recover with new technologies that imply both opportunities and risks. New patterns of regional governance will definitely emerge as the changes evolve.

The 36th Pacific Economic Community Seminar entitled "Economic Transformation and Future of Work in the Asia-Pacific after the pandemic" organized by Chinese Taipei Pacific Economic Cooperation Committee (CTPECC) will be held in Taipei on 14 October 2021.

The objective of this seminar is to address the regional significance and challenges on economic transformation and the preparation of future work under the “prospect of regional governance in the post-pandemic era”.

Speakers and attendees from PECC member committees will ...

PECC mourns the death of Senator Adlai Stevenson III

PECC mourns the death of Senator Adlai Stevenson III, who passed away on 6 September 2021 at the age of 90. He was a past president of the U.S. Committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. He served in the US Senate from 1970 to 1981 representing the state of Illinois.

Adlai E. Stevenson III, served in numerous business and public policy related capacities, including Chairman of SC&M Investment Management Company, founder and a Director of Hua Mei Capital Company (the first Sino US financial intermediary and Chairman of Midwest US China Association. He was the author of the Black Book which records American politics and history as his family knew it over five generations of active engagement starting with Lincoln in central Illinois. In May 2016, the Black Book was published by the China Academy of Social Sciences Press in China and renamed: American History and the Story of the Black Book. (http://www.adlai3.com)

“Former Senator Adlai Stevenson was a visionary and dedi...