HKCPEC: Prof Tam Kar Yan appointed as the new HKCPEC Chair

Professor Kar Yan TAM is Dean of the HKUST Business School and Chair Professor of Information Systems, Business Statistics and Operations Management. Prior to being Dean of the Business School, he was Dean of Students and Associate Provost at HKUST. Professor Tam is a board member of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and was the Past President of the Association of Asia Pacific Business Schools (AAPBS). Currently, he is the Chairperson of the Curriculum Development Council of the Education Bureau and serves on the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. He is also a member of the Hong Kong Productivity Council, the Board of the Hong Kong Metropolitan University, THEi Council, and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Review Tribunal.

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...

28th PECC General Meeting Concludes

The 28th PECC General Meeting concluded on 22nd July 2021. The event was hosted by the New Zealand Committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (NZPECC) on the theme of “Implementing the Putrajaya Vision: Revitalising the Regional Economy and Ensuring Sustainable and Inclusive Societies”. The 2- days conference provided valuable insights and in-depth discussions from distinguished speakers and panellists, focusing on 4 key themes:

1. Challenges of the COVID recovery: Managing COVID and the Challenges of Reviving Regional Growth
2. Rebuilding Support for Open Trade
3. The Emerging Issues in the Digital Economy
4. Climate Change

The Pacific Economic Cooperation Council elected Ambassador Zhan Yongxin, Chair of the China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (CNCPEC) as International Co-Chair. Prior to joining CNCPEC, Amb. Zhan held various governmental positions such as Second Secretary, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, MFA, and Ambassador ...