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| CONFERENCE CHAIR Gerold W. Libby Holland & Knight LLP Los Angeles HOST COMMITTEE |
THE FUTURE OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMY:
NATURAL COMPETITION VERSUS REGIONAL INTEGRATION?
Will globalization impel the Asia-Pacific region toward economic integration, or will the countries of the region pursue economic nationalism? Will the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) forge an effective common trade market? Will a self-sustaining Asian market ultimately decrease its trade dependence on the United States and Europe?
Globalization has transformed Asia in less than three decades into the world’s most dynamic economic region, on the verge of becoming a self-sustaining regional economy. ASEAN’s blueprint for an ASEAN Economic Community adopted in 2007 seemingly confirms this historic evolution. The trade effects of China’s and India’s exponentially expanding economies, the continuing maturation of the economies of Japan and the former Four Tigers, the proliferation of free trade agreements in the region that could compete with the multilateral trade regimes of APEC and WTO, all suggest that economic nationalism remains strong. Globalization has also spurred the partial transformation of state-owned enterprises into profit-driven multinational corporations that, together with newly emergent sovereign wealth funds with staggering financial resources, are new players in these regional and the global economies.
How will these historic developments shape the future of economic, trade, and investment relations within this region? Will they spur genuine regional cooperation, if not integration? Or will they spur increased national economic competition? The distinguished plenary panel of the IPBA 2008 Annual Conference will seek to provide insights into these issues and how they will impact what the future holds for this important region.
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