Asia Pacific’s trading dominance can largely be credited to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) which was established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence among Asia-Pacific economies. Almost doubling its membership, it now has 21 members countries and is the primary regional vehicle for promoting open trade, economic cooperation and promoting a sense of community. Members’ economies account for a combined GDP of more than US$16 trillion in 1998.
However, the Asia Pacific region is not a homogenous set of countries, possessing varying growth rates, structural problems and economic conditions. Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia demonstrated weak and minus growth rates in the late half of the 1990s. Little progress in corporate restructuring and non-performing loans in the finance sector attributed to undermining investor confidence. However, an increase in domestic demand and government spending have boosted growth rates in 2000.
Hong Kong, Philippines and Singapore all remain strong despite a slight downturn in growth rates during the regional financial collapse in 1998. Taiwan and Australia sailed through the collapse with little adverse impact.
Key sectors in this region are manufacturing, agriculture and fishing industries. The majority of heavy manufacturing takes place in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, all of which have large, modern factories specialising in automobiles, electronic equipment, factory machinery, iron and steel, military weapons, ships, and textiles.
Petroleum and natural gas resources can be found throughout Indonesia and China. Substantial offshore reserves exist off the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and China. China possesses rich supplies of coal. However, it lacks the transportation infrastructure with which to transport it, so falls short of the potential wealth it could generate.
Southeast Asia is densely populated and largely rural. However, urbanisation has increased since the 1980s. Countries such as Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong are largely urbanised. The trade-off of intense urbanisation and economic activity has been pollution, deforestation, depletion of soils and agriculture and other environmental issues. Private investment and consultancy to the tune of $30 to $40 billion is needed to tighten up controls, create policy and build environmental frameworks.
Opportunities in the ASEAN region vary from country to country. A brief assessment would include infrastructure, goods and services which allows for developing economies to grow – ‘quality of life goods’ (consumer goods are not considered a priority), education and training, agri-business management, information communication technology, healthcare in remote areas, mining, hydropower and forestry.
