PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION COUNCIL (PECC)

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JANCPEC National Committee Meeting (46^th) held on July 9, 2010
The 46^th Meeting of the Japan National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (JANCPEC), held in the Large Conference Room at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, featured approximately 30 JANCPEC members and other affiliated participants. After opening remarks by JANCPEC Chairman Yoshiji Nogami, JANCPEC Secretary-General Naoko Saiki briefed the attendees on the PECC International Workshop on Social Resilience (SR) Project held in March. This was followed by status updates from Professor Naoki Mitani of Kobe University on the progress made by the SR Project’s Employment Insurance Group, and from Pacific Economic Outlook (PEO) Executive Director Toshio Takeda on PEO activities. Kenji Hiramatsu, Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Economic Affairs Bureau, then gave a presentation on the current state of APEC 2010 and future issues to be addressed, followed by a report from JANCPEC Secretary-General Naoko Saiki on the 19^th PECC General Meeting scheduled for this October. Lively exchanges of views characterized the question-and-answer periods for each of these reports, and the meeting proved to be an extremely meaningful forum for discussion.

The Kick-Off ! ! "JANCPEC Social Resilience Research Project"
The PECC officially approved the "JANCPEC Social Resilience Research Project" as a PECC International Project at the Singapore conference (October 9-11, 2009) entitled "Economic Crisis and Recovery: Enhancing Resilience, Structural Reform, and Freer Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region"(http://www.pecc.org/). The Social Resilience Research Project (SR Project) is the first ambitious attempt by the APEC/PECC family to discuss social policy in the Asia-Pacific region in depth. APEC and PECC have long argued for the liberalization of investment and trade. Looking beyond the economic crisis, the time has come for individual Asian countries to address domestic social policies in earnest and to discuss the sense of security of those persons who underpin liberalization and brisk domestic demand as well as social safety nets for them in connection with a major paradigm shift toward the construction of a resilient model for sustained economic growth. Given this scope, the SR Project has a four-fold focus: the pension systems, medicare systems, unemployment insurance systems in the Asia-Pacific region, and a macro analysis. Details of the SR Project are available in this file.
Social Resilience Project Team
JANCPEC Social Resilience Project

We held PECC International Workshop on Social Resilience Project in Tokyo on March 4-5, 2010. The summary report of the Workshop is available below. SR Project session will be held in October 2010 at the 19th PECC General Meeting in Tokyo. In addition, we will publish a final report of the SR Project and prepare draft policy proposals for PECC and APEC 2010.
PECC International Workshop on Social Resilience

PECC Conference "Economic Crisis and Recovery: Enhancing Resilience, Structural Reform and Freer Trade in the Asia-Pacific" was held at the Orchard Hotel in Singapore on 9th-10th of October 2009, organized by Singapore PECC(SINCPEC) and IPS. Ref.(http://www.pecc.org/)
Vigorous discussions focused on the economic situation in the aftermath of crisis and future tasks in Asia-Pacific Region. JANCPEC Chair Yoshiji Nogami gave a keynote speech, "Beyond the economic crisis, now the time is coming for individual Asian countries to address domestic social policies in earnest." In the sessions related to SR Project, our member of SR Project team, Dr. Mukul Asher (National University of Singapore) and Dr. Charles Yuji Horioka (Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University) made presentations. In addtion, Dr. John West (ADBI) and PEO, Structural Issues Group, Project General Manager, Dr. Akira Kosaka (Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University) who give SR Project advice vigorously, also made presentations.

JANCPEC activities

National/regional committees support PECC's activities at the domestic level. In Japan, the Japan National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (JANCPEC) coordinates domestic activities pertinent to PECC's international activities and serves as a core organization for promoting Pacific region cooperation activities in Japan. Its membership comprises about 100 leading figures from Japanese industry, academia and government, and JANCPEC holds a national conference once or twice each year.

Japan National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (JANCPEC)

Specific cooperation activities are carried out by sector-specific task forces, study groups, etc., established under PECC. At present, the following subcommittees are engaged in undertaking international task force activities, etc.

Projects organized by Japan

Pacific Economic Outlook (PEO) Japan Committee
PEO Japan Committee Chair: Yoshiji NOGAMI (PECC Japan National Committee Chair)

PEO's website at Kansai Institute for Social and Economic Research

JANCPEC Schedule of Upcoming Events

What is PECC?

The Japan Institute of International Affairs serves as the secretariat of the Japan National Committee for the Pacific Economic Cooperation (JANCPEC). Ambassador Yoshiji Nogami is the JANCPEC chair.
The Pacific Economic Cooperation Council is an independent and unofficial regional mechanism to advance economic cooperation and market-driven integration. PECC is a unique partnership of business, government and intellectual leaders engaged in their private capacities to promote economic growth, social progress, scientific and technological development, and environmental conservation. Founded in 1980 at the initiative of Masayoshi Ohira and Malcom Fraser, then prime ministers of Japan and Australia, PECC organizes task forces, project groups and forums. PECC has twenty-four full Member Committees and one Associate Member from economies in the Pacific region. The Japan National Committee consists of over one hundred representatives of business, government and the academy.

Further information is available at: www.pecc.org/

Archives

Report from 18^th PECC General Meeting (Washington, D.C.) - 2010 General Meeting to be held in Japan
This two-day meeting (May 12-13, 2009), held in the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., was attended by chairpersons and representatives from all PECC full and associate member national committees except those of Brunei, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The theme of this 18^th General Meeting (Symposium) was "Crisis and Recovery: Regional and Global Roles for Asia-Pacific Economies," and discussions focused on the reverberations of last year's financial crisis in the world economy. More than 300 participants were at this meeting, which was hosted by the United States Asia Pacific Council and the East-West Center.

During the meeting of the Standing Committee preceding the General Meeting, Japan National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (JANCPEC) Chair Yoshiji Nogami gave a presentation on the preparations being undertaken at JANCPEC to launch a "Social Resilience Task Force Project (name tentative)." He reported on the idea of launching projects covering social safety nets (pensions, medical care, aging issues, unemployment insurance and funding therefor) and education (and funding therefor) with an eye toward APEC Japan 2010; these projects are to be concluded before the start of APEC Japan 2010. Chair Nogami also announced that he would like to see Japan host the upcoming 19^th PECC General Meeting (2010); this proposal was approved unanimously.

Below is an overview of the General Meeting (Symposium).

Multiple analyses of the current situation noted that the economic slowdown in Asia has for the most part bottomed out. Opinion was divided on the course of the subsequent recovery, with some anticipating a V-shaped rebound and others expecting wild fluctuations for some time to come. Many participants, seeing the crisis as an opportunity to bring about overall economic recovery and sustained growth, stressed the need to tackle domestic structural reforms and to monitor the tendency toward excessive protectionism to ensure that the benefits of free trade are not hampered by a temporary crisis. Cooperation by the Asian region in addressing not only recovery from the economic crisis but also global environmental issues by, for instance, using existing frameworks for collaboration was also regarded as essential.

Click here for further details on the Washington General Meeting