Asia-Pacific growth unlikely to recover without significant cooperation

Respondents to a PECC survey do not anticipate a swift rebound from the crisis in 2021 with growth levels for the Asia-Pacific remaining below 2019 levels for the next 3-5 years.

The survey of 710 policy experts from business, academia, government and civil society was conducted from 19 May to 12 June, 2020. An analysis of the responses also provides insights for further commentary on the regional outlook and the strategies available for transitioning out of the current situation.

One of the great uncertainties is when and how to leave the lockdowns that have been the first response to the virus that would help to restart economic growth.

The response was clear - the top pre-conditions for leaving from lockdown were all related to public health issues such as the medical capacity to deal with the number of cases and evidence that number of new cases was reducing. After the medical conditions came the economic considerations and the need for international cooperation highlighting the...

COVID-19: Message from Co-Chairs

On 11 March the World Health Organization made the assessment that the COVID-19 outbreak was a global pandemic. This virus has now spread across our entire region and the world. The impact on human life and economic activity has already been harsh and is likely to continue to be so. The World Health Organization has said that the response must be “a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach, built around a comprehensive strategy to prevent infections, save lives and minimize impact”. We have seen APEC member economies are strengthening cooperation and taking measures to combat COVID-19 and stabilize their economies. To contribute to regional cooperation on COVID-19 we have developed this webpage to share information and best practice on how our region is responding to the COVID-19 crisis.

Information posted here includes perspectives from our member committees on how their economies are responding to the crises, initiatives undertaken by our member committees, their host institut...

Reorganization of the Mexican PECC Committee

The Mexican Chapter of PECC was recently reorganized with the support received of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Mexican International Cooperation Agency (AMEXCID), and the Ministry of Economy through the Under Secretariat for International Trade.

PECC Mourns the Passing of Carole Brookins

We mourn the passing of Ms Carole Brookins who passed away on 23 March at the age of 76. “Carole was a leading member of US PECC who helped establish PECC as a regional resource on food and agriculture policy. Her key insight as chair of the task force was to frame the issues in terms of the regional food system. She is remembered for the way she quickly distilled the essence of research for a regional audience, providing a great model for successful PECC projects. We are much in her debt,” said Dr Mark Borthwick former Executive Director of the US PECC Committee.

Ms Brookins started her career in finance with A.G. Becker & Company and then became a reporter with the Chicago Board of Trade before joining E.F. Hutton where she rose to become E.F. Hutton’s vice president of the commodities division. In 1980 she founded World Perspectives in Washington DC an agricultural market analysis and consulting firm.

“Carole was very much a pioneer. She introduced the idea of taking a holisti...

State of the Region 2019 - 2020

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The mood across the Asia-Pacific has soured since this time last year with expectations for global growth turning distinctly negative. Regional economic growth is expected to slow from 3.8 percent growth in 2018 to 3.3 percent growth this year. However, it is the dramatic slowdown in the external sector that is of most concern with export growth slowing from 4.0 percent to just 0.9 growth this year for Asia-Pacific economies. While governments are acting to moderate a slowdown through stimulus measures, primarily interest rate cuts, other actions also need to be taken.

Sixty-eight percent of respondents to PECC’s annual survey of the Asia-Pacific policy community expect weaker or much weaker growth for the global economy next year. The top five risks to growth identified by our survey of the Asia-Pacific policy community for their economies are:

• Increased protectionism and trade wars
• A slowdown in world trade growth
• A slowdown in the Chinese economy
• A slowdown...