PECC Task Force Gathers in Auckland to discuss APEC after 2020

From left to right: Mr Rory McLeod, Prof Gary Hawke, Ambassador Muhamad Noor, Ambassador Zhang Xianyi, Mr Brian Lynch, Dr Yang Zerui, Dato’ Steven Wong, Mr Eduardo Pedrosa, Dr Charles Morrison, Ms Yvonne Lucas, Dr Steven Poelhekke, Ms Fran O’Sullivan, Prof Robert Scollay, and Dr Alan Bollard

The PECC task force on APEC Beyond 2020 met in Auckland on 22-23 March. Members of the task force were joined by the immediate past Executive Directors of APEC, Dr Alan Bollard and Ambassador Muhamad Noor Yacob as well as members of the New Zealand PECC committee.

Since 1994, APEC’s work has been driven by the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment by 2020. With that deadline looming large, in 2017 when APEC leaders met in Danang they established a Vision Group to assist Senior Officials in shaping the post-2020 Vision, including through consultations with relevant stakeholders. To facilitate PECC’s input to this process, the Standing Committee established a task force under t...

Dr Craig Emerson Appointed as Director of the Australian APEC Study Centre

Dr Craig Emerson, former Minister of Trade, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Asian Century Policy, the Minister for Competition Policy and the Minister for Tertiary Education has been appointed as the Director of the RMIT APEC Study Center which also acts the secretariat for AUSPECC.

Architect of the White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century, Emerson said he was honoured to accept the role at RMIT as it sought to build capacity across the Asia-Pacific region. “As trade adviser to Prime Minister Bob Hawke when Australia initiated APEC in 1989, it is an honour, three decades later to be playing such an important role in helping to shape the group’s future thinking and its work program,” he said.

Emerson has a long Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) association and a keen passion for advancing the economic development of the Asia-Pacific region, having represented Australia at the 2012 APEC Leaders’ Summit in Vladivostok.

He will also build domestic and international ...

State of the Region 2018-2019

The Asia-Pacific expected to grow by 3.9 percent this year and 3.7 percent in 2019. These are significant downward revisions from forecasts made earlier in the year, as a result of the materialization of risks to growth, in particular trade conflicts, higher commodity prices, rising interests and volatile capital markets.

The results of PECC’s annual survey of the regional policy community largely echo current economic forecasts with the general expectation that growth will be at around the same level in 2019 as 2018, Over 42 percent of respondents expect growth to be about the same – in line with current forecasts. Of concern, however, is that the buoyancy at this time last year has dissipated. The top 5 risks to growth over the next 2-3 years were:

• Increased protectionism and trade wars
• Possible slowdown in world trade growth
• A slowdown in the Chinese economy
• Lack of political leadership
• Corruption

While it is clear that trade restricting measures have been on the rise, at...

State of the Region 2017-2018

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Asia-Pacific economy is expected to grow by 3.6 percent in 2017 and 2018. This is a significant improvement from last year when growth was at around 3.2 percent. Much of this improvement comes from faster than expected growth in the region’s largest economies: the United States, China and Japan. However, underlying the upbeat forecast, there remain important structural concerns about the nature of growth in the region: high levels of debt; the impact of rising interest rates on the ability of the individuals and the corporate sector to service that debt; slowing trade and its ability to act as a driver of growth; and the impact of the digital economy.

According to PECC’s annual survey, the top-5 risks to growth were:

• Increased protectionism
• Lack of political leadership
• A slowdown in the Chinese economy
• Possible slowdown in world trade growth
• Failure to implement structural reforms.

Over 44 percent of respondents selected increased protectionism as a top ...

State of the Region 2018-2019

Executive Summary

The Asia-Pacific expected to grow by 3.9 percent this year and 3.7 percent in 2019. These are significant downward revisions from forecasts made earlier in the year, as a result of the materialization of risks to growth, in particular trade conflicts, higher commodity prices, rising interests and volatile capital markets.

The results of PECC’s annual survey of the regional policy community largely echo current economic forecasts with the general expectation that growth will be at around the same level in 2019 as 2018, Over 42 percent of respondents expect growth to be about the same – in line with current forecasts. Of concern, however, is that the buoyancy at this time last year has dissipated. The top 5 risks to growth over the next 2-3 years were:

•  Increased protectionism and trade wars
•  Possible slowdown in world trade growth
•  A slowdown in the Chinese economy
•  Lack of political leadership
•  Corruption

While it is clear that tr...