The 27th Pacific Economic Community Seminar
“Regional Economic Integration Review and Outlook”

4-5 October, 2012
Regent Taipei
Organizers: Chinese Taipei Pacific Economic Cooperation Committee (CTPECC)
Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER)

Introduction
The global economy experienced somewhat slow to moderate growth during the 2011-2012 period. Uncertainties are still containing the improvement of business conditions of the world. However, the Asia-Pacific especially the East Asia region outperformed other regions by contributing more to the world economic growth. It is therefore very important to continue such a momentum and keep on the recovery process, since the world economy will be depending further on the economic potential and strength provided by this region.
The most recent global economic crisis had serious impacts on the world economy through the channel of international trade as well as financial linkage. European sovereign crisis, geopolitical factors and other uncertainties further block the path to recovery. In addition, protectionism in many forms seems revived at bad times, and transaction costs hindering the development of healthy business environment increased. The regional economic integration (REI) aiming at reducing or eliminating unnecessary economic barriers has been proposed, such as the initiative of Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), in-progress Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), and the unending idea of ASEAN plus Three or Six. We believe that economic integration with freer trade would help create a healthier business environment by eliminating protectionism in many possible ways. However, there still exist many political and economic challenges limiting the progress of REI. For that reason, we need to cope with challenges and explore potential opportunities.
Furthermore, it is also possible that the REI trend will create an entirely new business model that is much needed for the world economy to grow in a more adequate fashion. That means supply could better meet demand, whereas demand of the present and future generations ought to be clearly identified. In addition, how those integration processes can help create and execute a potential new economic format is also a crucial issue. For these reasons and to look for feasible solutions, the Chinese Taipei Pacific Economic Cooperation Committee (CTPECC) and Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) would like to cordially invite opinion leaders in our region to share their distinguished views and exchange ideas with representatives from business, government and academic circles in Chinese Taipei.