The Future Of Asia Pacific Economies

This book introduces readers to the deep political tensions in the Asia-Pacific and offers classroom simulations designed to encourage students to delve deeper into the issues and dynamics of the region.

Papers and proceedings of the APEC Economic Committee Symposium held in Tokyo, Japan December 1999.

This book is a history of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development bank established 50 years ago to serve Asia and the Pacific. Focusing on the region’s economic development, the evolution of the international development agenda, and the story of ADB itself, this book raises several key questions: What are the outstanding features of regional development to which ADB had to respond? How has the bank grown and evolved in changing circumstances? How did ADB’s successive leaders promote reforms while preserving continuity with the efforts of their predecessors? ADB has played an important role in the transformation of Asia and the Pacific the past 50 years. As ADB continues to evolve and adapt to the region’s changing development landscape, the experiences highlighted in this book can provide valuable insight on how best to serve Asia and the Pacific in the future.

This book focuses on the tremendous shift in both economic growth and development progress taking place towards the Asia-Pacific Region. Each of the countries in the region has various concerns and challenges for its sustainable development, a common goal most of them are trying to achieve at the moment. Interestingly, sustainable development in the region may be critical for achieving sustainable development at the global level as well. With a limited mandate, the book covers some specific developmental issues of ‘the hot spots’ of APR that are regarded to be contributing to their sustainable development. The book also looks at the formation and strengthening of some economic and financial initiatives with the potentials to affect growth and influence economic cooperation and integration of the countries in the region.

Where development is concerned, our language and perhaps our way of thinking often ap pear somewhat distorted. If anything, the Asian economies with their most impressive and dynamic growth should logically be called developing countries. Instead, we call them threshold countries, newly industrializing countries (NICs) or newly industrializing eco nomies (NIEs), the latter term taking into account the Chinese argument that Hong Kong and Taiwan should not be considered countries. During the eighties, when Latin American NICs became the main victims of the debt crisis, the NIEs of East Asia (EANIEs), the little tigers or dragons, presented most impres sive examples of growth through orientation to world trade, fitting well into the Japanese 'flying-geese' concept. Naturally, questions were raised as to the reasons for this success, the lessons other countries could draw from it, and the outlook for the future. At the same time, the establis hed industrial countries wanted to know what NIE competition might mean for them. In 1988, the OECD published a study entitled "The NIEs -Challenge and Opportunity for OECD Industries". The NIBs had become a fashionable object of research and debate. In Western Europe, where countries are preparing for a period offurtherintegration and East-West cooperation, it seems worth-while to also consider the role ofthe EANIEs and the options for cooperation they represent. Moreover, the NIEs themselves are following development in Europe with some concern and are trying to adjust to the new situation as it emerges.

This book reviews progress with regional cooperation and integration in Asia and the Pacific and explores how it can be reshaped to achieve a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive future. Consisting of papers contributed by renowned scholars and Asian Development Bank staff, the book covers four major areas: public goods, trade and investment, financial cooperation, and regional health cooperation. The book emphasizes how the region can better leverage regional integration to realize its vast potential as well as overcome challenges such as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.