Services Trade Can Revitalize the Stalling Negotiations at the WTO
15 Dec 2011 (Singapore) - Despite the fact that the services sector accounts for 68 percent of value-add in the Asia-Pacific region, there is little known about the services sector and has been the neglected component of international trade. It also accounts for 61 percent of employment in the region, up from mere 27 percent when the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was founded in 1989. While the services sector has come to dominate the modern economy, international trade in services lags behind and the exports of goods among the APEC member economies are five times larger than exports of services although both sectors have grown by almost 115 percent over the last decade. These are the key messages contained in the new publication being released by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Services Trade: Approaches for the 21st Century.

Prospect for Growth in Energy Trade from North America to East Asia
29 Sept 2011 (Washington D.C.) - Even though oil and gas is the most traded product in the Asia-Pacific region, there is virtually no energy trae across the Pacific. A new report released today in Washington D.C. by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) suggests that this anomaly could be corrected in the foreseeable future.

Asia-Pacific Opinion Leaders Gloomy on Economic Outlook
29 Sept 2011 (Washington D.C.) - Eighty percent of Asia-Pacific opinion-leaders believe the US and the European Union are headed for slower growth in the next 12 months. This finding is from an annual survey of senior policy-makers, executives, academics, and media from 22 Asia-Pacific economies conducted by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC).

Focus on New Growth Strategies for Asia-Pacific Economies

30 June 2011 (Singapore) - Unemployment, high inflation, and income inequality continue to be key concerns for Asia-Pacific economies. Natural disasters have taken a catastrophic toll.  Although the Asia-Pacific region has managed to overcome the worst from the economic crisis of 2008-2009, the recovery has been patchy and the growth trajectory is far from assured. Experts from the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, a regional think tank met in Singapore over two days to discuss challenges and approaches for growth in the region ahead of the APEC leaders’ meeting to be held in Honolulu in November.

3 June 2011 (Hong Kong) - Over 50 of the world’s leading economists have gathered in Hong Kong, China to share views on the challenges faced by the global and regional trading system and the importance of integrating global and regional services sector in boosting economic growth and efficiency. ‘Services Trade: New Approaches for the 21st Century’, is co-organized by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), co-hosted by the Economic Research Centre of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (HKIAPS) and Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).