State of the Region Supplement

Pacific Currents

Trump Reciprocal Tariffs and Mitigating Global Recession: Role of ASEAN for the Soft-landing Option
Shandre Mugan Thangavelu, Christopher Findlay

Global value chains: From fruitful discussions to meaningful actions
Juan Navarro, Associate Faculty, Royal Roads University

Climate change in SOTR
Christopher Findlay, Tilak Doshi and Eduardo Pedrosa

Digital Technologies, Services and the Fourth Industrial Revolutions
Submitted by Jane Drake-Brockman, Christopher Findlay, Yose Rizal Damuri and Sherry Stephenson

COVID-19 has Exposed Major Gaps in our Social Safety Nets: In a Post-COVID World Will these Gaps be Closed?
Hugh Stephens
Vice Chair, CANCPEC; Distinguished Fellow, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada; Executive Fellow, School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary

SOTR 2023 2024 Supplement

The Asia-Pacific region has shown remarkable resilience in the face of an uncertain environment. However, as the region heads into a ‘new normal’ the shape and form of economic growth are likely to be substantially different from the pre-pandemic period. As demonstrated by concerns expressed by respondents to PECC’s annual survey, the regional policy community is concerned with the rise in the cost of living; climate change; a slowdown in world trade growth; geo-economic fragmentation; and increased protectionism and trade wars. All of these risks, if they materialize, will impact APEC’s efforts to achieve the Putrajaya Vision of an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific community by 2040, for the prosperity of all our people and future generations.

Prior to the pandemic, the expected average growth rate for the 2000-2024 period was about 3.3 percent a year, more recent forecasts expect regional growth to be 0.7 percentage points lower at 2.6 percent. This year, the region is expected to grow by about 3.2 percent before weakening to 2.7 percent in 2024. This stands in sharp contrast to the heady days of the 1990s, when, in spite of the 1997-98 crisis the region grew at 3.5 percent and again in the 2000s when, again, even with the Global Financial Crisis, the region grew at an average of 3.4 percent.

Download full report: State of the Region 2023 - Supplement

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

Eduardo PEDROSA
Secretary General, PECC International Secretariat / Coordinator of State of the Region

Christopher LANGMAN
AUSPECC/ Chair

Sharon Zhengyang SUN
CANCPEC

ZHAO Yali
CNCPEC/ Vice Chair

Yose Rizal DAMURI
INCPEC/ Co-Chair

Kenichiro SASAE
JANCPEC/ Chair

Chul CHUNG
KOPEC/ Vice Chair

Gerard TRASLOSHEROS
MXCPEC/Chair

Alan BOLLARD
NZPECC/Chair

TAN Khee Giap
SINCPEC/Chair