Pages
-
Recent Posts
Latest Headlines
-
Session 4: Good Value – Reflections on the global financial crisis and the way forward
In the recent London G20 meeting, global leaders recommitted to an open world economy based on market principles. This statement was notable because of the increasing attacks on the legitimacy of the market-based economy and its capacity to deliver prosperity and sustainable growth. The G20 also concluded that the world economies did well in taking unprecedented collective efforts to stave off a deeper crisis. Unbridled excesses contributed to the global crisis, and Green argued for the future need to preserve dynamism while trimming excesses. This is important to sustain development in an increasingly connected world. -
Session 3: Regulating the Global Economy for Global Growth
The dialogue on Global Economic Governance, in bringing together voices from government, corporate governance, and business, helped to articulate a more integrated and coherent vision for future relations between government and business in the context of a world economy in urgent need of sustained recovery and growth. As globalization ties the world’s economies ever more closely together, a global economic governance structure has become even more necessary in order to support the commitments to free trade and free markets made by world leaders at summits such as the G-20 and APEC. Coming on the heels of a drastic financial meltdown in the world’s most developed economies and its pervasive impact on the real global economy in the form of rising unemployment, the APEC dialogue with Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, former Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Korean Investment Corporation Chairman Dr. Yoon-Dae Euh, corporate governance expert Carol Hansell, and Chevron Executive Vice President George Kirkland focused on the mutual expectations held by government and business for the type of leadership needed to generate sustainable recovery and growth, and the optimal framework for private-public partnership in overcoming challenges such as climate change and poverty reduction. -
Session 2: Is the Global Crisis really over?
The first dialogue of the day began with a panel conversation on the state of the global economy, moderated by Dato Timothy Ong, Chairman, Brunei Economic Development Board. On the panel were six leaders, representing a sample of the global economy: H.E. PM of Malaysia, Dato Sri Najib Razak of Malaysia; Dr. Victor Fung, Chairman, International Chamber of Commerce and Group Chairman, Li and Fung; Mr. Madhu Koneru, CEO Middle Eastern Coal Holdings; Dr. Luis Alberto Moreno, President, Inter-American Development Bank; Mr. Dennis M. Nally, Global Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd; and Mr. Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank. As a precurser to the panel, an electronic live poll was taken of the delegates in the room. It asked the question: “Is the Global Crisis over?” The results showed that most of the delegates in the room were cautiously optimistic about the future of the economy, with more than half responding yes, the crisis was over (9%), although some did feel that there was a risk of a possible downturn (43%). Slightly less than half the delegates felt that we were not out of the woods yet – 19% felt that the world was still struggling to control this crisis, but 29% felt that the crisis was an opportunity for the world to seize upon. -
Session 1: Rebuilding the Global Economy: Are new models of growth required?
The opening session of the APEC CEO Summit 2009 saw a welcome address by APEC CEO Summit 2009 Chairperson Ms. Chong Siak Ching, President and CEO of Ascendas Pte Ltd, as well as a speech by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long. Prime Minister Lee focused his remarks on the significance of the financial crisis, the state of regional integration in the Asia Pacific, and the role of various actors in creating a sustainable recovery. After delivering his speech, Prime Minister Lee also responded to several questions posed by audience members. -
PM: Renew commitment to Apec’s goal
BY STRAITS TIMES – Twenty years ago, a group of 12 economies went against the grain, deciding to band together and commit to free trade. Now, in a pivotal moment in economic history, the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) must once again take the lead in breaking down trade barriers and helping global businesses. That was Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's call to his fellow Apec ministers, as he welcomed them to the Apec talks taking place here this week. -
Apec must set sights on free trade area
BY STRAITS TIMES – APEC has overcome many hurdles in its 20 years of existence, but it should now set its sights on forging a free trade area comprising almost half the world's trade. That call by Foreign Minister George Yeo came yesterday at a symposium to mark the Asia-Pacific Regional Forum's 20th anniversary. The timeframe he had in mind was around two years. -
Waiting for Obama
BY SIMON TAY –
This is the season for Asian gatherings. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Thailand in late October brought all the key players of Asia together. Come mid-November, almost all of them will meet again in Singapore at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will include other Pacific leaders, plus US President Barack Obama.
-
Does APEC Matter?
BY PETER DRYSDALE & SHIRO ARMSTRONG – This week Singapore hosts APEC and leaders from the 21 member economies. This year is APEC’s 20th anniversary, 20 years which have seen a remarkable transformation and growth of its East Asian member economies. Did APEC have anything to do with East Asia becoming the most dynamic region in the global economy? Does APEC matter for its members? Does being a member of APEC, and associated with the growth of trade and investment in the most dynamic part of the world economy, make a difference?
-
APEC members enjoy de facto integration: report
SINGAPORE, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) — The impact of membership of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on trade is comparable to that of a free trade agreement, even without a binding agreement, says a report released Monday by the APEC Secretariat. The report’s analysis reveals that APEC members trade with each other more than they do with [...] -
Policymakers, don’t write off the implausible
Expect the Unexpected By Kishore Mahbubani This paradox captures the essence of our times. Over the past two decades, we have experienced several events which were inconceivable just a few years earlier. Let me mention four: In 1985, when then-United States President Ronald Reagan was still calling the Soviet Union ‘an evil empire’, anyone who predicted that [...] -
APEC 5 Green Steps: Facilitating Green Business in the Asia-Pacific Region
BY SUNVIANA SUNARYO - Businesses around the globe are currently facing two of the most detrimental crises of the 21st century – a financial crisis and an environmental crisis. I believe focusing only on financial concerns will be a big historic mistake. Hence, global environmental issues and promoting sustainable economic growth should be an imperative worldwide agenda, constituting an important topic for discussion in many forums, organizations and cooperation, including Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). -
Fostering Economic Growth through the Biz-Dev Pgm at the Base Of the Pyramid
BY INDRA SURYA SUSANTIO - In December 2008, the Asian Development Bank reported that poverty in the Asia Pacific region is estimated to be much larger than earlier reported. The region was also reported to be facing major hurdles in meeting its Millennium Development Goals. Following ADB reports, in January 2009, the World Economic Forum , in partnership with The Boston Consulting Group presented a set of new insights and design principles which can help companies tap the economic potential of BOP markets in ways that serve both commercial and societal goals. -
Climate Change and Malaria in Africa
BY BJØRN LOMBORG - When he first got sick, Samson Banda didn't realize he had malaria. Only after he came down with a serious fever did he end up at a clinic in the Bauleni slum compound in Lusaka, Zambia. The clinic has just a few nurses and staff with basic medical skills. Locals can wait for an entire day to be seen. -
APEC CEO Summit in Singapore to see record turnout of leaders
by SATISH CHENEY SINGAPORE: (Channel NewsAsia) The APEC CEO Summit in Singapore next week will see a record number of 1,500 participants, underscoring the strategic importance of this year’s meeting. Taking centre stage will be world leaders such as US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Organisers of the APEC CEO Summit have launched an online [...] -
APEC to Promote Market Opening at Singapore Summit, Lee Says
By Shamim Adam Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) — The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation will focus on “longer-term” issues such as promoting trade and market opening as the group’s members emerge from recession, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said. The 21-member grouping has a long-term vision of creating a free trade area in the Asia Pacific and will use [...] -
Pacific Asia and the Asia Pacific: The Choices for APEC
BY C. FRED BERGSTEN – In this policy brief, I assess the record of the APEC over the 20 years of its existence and discuss the world environment in which APEC is likely to be operating in the next 20 years, with a particular focus on the major change in global institutional arrangements implied by the replacement of the Group of Seven/Eight (G-7/8) by the Group of Twenty (G-20) as the chief steering committee for the world economy and, within that group and other international economic organizations, the increasingly central role of an informal and de facto Group of Two (G-2) between China and the United States. -
Making Asia Pacific a Global Production Cluster
BY GEOFFREY SEE – We are often hostage to old ways of thinking, even when times are changing. And the world might be in such a time. Think of trade barriers and trade interests. What comes to mind? Countries stratified by economic status or industry interests. The developing economies align with other developing economies and the agricultural economies align with other agricultural economies. But what if the global trade map is drawn differently? -
Will Asian Assets Really Outperform Globally?
-
Every Little Step Counts Towards Addressing Climate Change Challenges
BY CHONG SIAK CHING - While we need bold initiatives to address the threat of global warming and climate change dimming the prospects of a bright future, little steps and initiatives still count and should be encouraged. Collectively, these little steps add up and like a snowball, can gather momentum along the way to make a big difference. -
Global Crisis: Let Growth Engines Drive the Recovery
BY PETER A. PETRI - Last week, the IMF raised its semi-annual forecast of world economic growth for next year, from 2.5% to 3.1%. The projections confirm that Asia is leading the global recovery. This is good news: the last three such revisions were downward, and at the time of the last report in the spring many Asian economies were still in freefall. -
The Economic Crisis: A Time for APEC to Find Its Role
BY CHARLES E. MORRISON, JUSUF WANANDI & TAN KHEE GIAP - In a little over a month’s time, leaders from the Asia-Pacific economies will gather in Singapore for the annual APEC summit. This meeting comes at a very opportune time. It will be sandwiched nicely between the Pittsburgh G-20 summit meeting and the forthcoming Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. -
Japan in the spotlight in the lead-up to APEC 2009 Singapore
BY PETER DRYSDALE - When the 21 APEC leaders get together at their summit in Singapore next month, the spotlight will be on Japan and its new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. For one thing, this year is the twentieth anniversary of the birth of APEC in Canberra, in 1989. APEC is the child of a remarkable Japanese and Australian diplomatic initiative [...]. -
APEC to focus on protectionism, trade imbalances
By Neil Chatterjee SINGAPORE, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Leaders of Asia-Pacific nations will focus on protectionism, trade imbalances and the ease of doing business when they meet in Singapore next month, the director of the APEC grouping said on Tuesday. These are issues that have emerged as threats to a global economic recovery for the Asia Pacific [...] -
INTERVIEW: Mr. Ricky Sim, Managing Director of Chesterton Suntec International Pte Ltd
by: Ray HONG Mr. Ricky Sim, Managing Director of Chesterton Suntec International Pte Ltd and newly appointed Council Member of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (2009-2011 term), belongs to that category of people termed the self-made men and women of society: his success owes largely to his own effort and resourcefulness. He is not perfect; [...] -
“The Future of APEC”: Testimony before US House of Representatives
Testimony by Kurt Tong, Acting Senior Official for APEC , Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment Washington, DC October 14, 2009 Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Representative Manzullo, and other members of the Subcommittee. It is an honor to appear before you today, along [...] -
Economic sense & nonsense of global warming
BY PETER LÖSCHER - Climate change is a fact. Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are higher today than at any point during the last 350,000 years. If carbon dioxide emissions were to double by 2035, the temperature of our planet would rise between 1.5 and 4.5 degrees celsius – with catastrophic consequences for civilization and our entire biosphere. We cannot afford this. -
Climate Change: Global Warming’s Technology Deficit
BY BJØRN LOMBORG - Our current approach to solving global warming will not work. It is flawed economically, because carbon taxes will cost a fortune and do little, and it is flawed politically, because negotiations to reduce CO2 emissions will become ever more fraught and divisive. And even if you disagree on both counts, the current approach is also flawed technologically. -
The Tipping Point: The rise of the East, the demise of the West
BY STEPHEN KING - We have reached a tipping point in global economic affairs. While there are some encouraging signs of recovery in the developed world, the real economic action is taking place elsewhere. For both cyclical and structural reasons, the emerging nations are set to dominate world economic activity in the years ahead. -
Political implications of the crisis for regional economies: The East Asia case
There are many political-security challenges in East Asia, such as terrorism, proliferation of WMD, transnational crime, climate change, energy security, pandemic diseases, and natural disasters. However, in the last 18 months or so a new political-security challenge has arisen that has overridden everything else, not only in the East Asian region but also globally, namely [...] -
G-20: Gulliver and Lilliputians?
BY SIMON TAY - CRISES provoke changes. The initiative to bring together the world's 20 largest economies last November was one change the global economic crisis instigated. The Group of 20 (G-20) summit meeting in September in Pittsburgh was only its third. But the G-20 has already emerged as the key grouping in the global crisis. -
United by disaster
There is no simple, single or immediate solution to the haze The week the earthquake hit Padang, I was in Kuala Lumpur for a dialogue about the regional haze. Should we be criticising Indonesia for the fires, someone asked, when the country had just suffered such tragedy? Does the haze pollution seem inconsequential? Does Indonesia have the [...] -
Speech by Mr Raymond Lim at PECC Conference
By Raymond Lim . It is my pleasure to join you for dinner. Let me first extend a warm welcome to all of you, especially to our overseas friends who have come to Singapore to attend this conference. 2 The global economic situation has eased since the financial crisis started about a year back. Leading indicators are looking [...] -
Speech by Mr Lim Hng Kiang at PECC Conference
The global economic situation has eased since the financial crisis started about a year back. Leading indicators are looking up, and the IMF recently lifted its forecast for global GDP growth in 2010 to around 3%. But it is too early to take our eyes off the economy – it will be a bumpy ride, fraught with risks.
