Background of PECC's Establishment

Background of PECC's Establishment

1. The concept of Pacific cooperation had been continuously promoted as a private-sector movement among the relevant countries before World War II. Inspired by the economic integration movement and similar developments in post-war Europe, efforts to realize this concept steadily advanced.

In particular, the "Pacific Free Trade Area Concept," proposed in 1965 by Professor Kiyoshi Kojima of Hitotsubashi University provided an important theoretical foundation for these efforts. This concept aimed to create a free trade area in the Pacific region, centered on five advanced countries--Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand--and to eliminate tariffs within the region. Building on Professor Kojima's concept, the Pacific Trade and Development Conference (PAFTAD) was launched in 1968, led primarily by economists from Japan, the United States, and Australia.
At the same time, interest in the Pacific region grew within the business community. Under the leadership of Shigeo Nagano, then Chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) was established among the five advanced countries.

2. In this way, Japan played a major role in the early development of Pacific cooperation, although the activities were primarily led by academia and the business community. However, the subsequent growth of the Japanese economy and the rise of the Newly Industrialized Economies (NIEs) in Asia stimulated economic exchanges within the Pacific region and greatly increased its importance. Against this backdrop, interest in the Pacific region grew further, and momentum for Pacific cooperation at the national level began to emerge. 
In 1978, then Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira launched the "Study group on Pacific Basin Cooperation" and introduced the "Pacific Basin Cooperation Concept." This concept focused on the future potential of the Pacific region, which encompasses countries achieving the most dynamic development and growth in the world. It aimed to strengthen cooperative and interdependent relationships among this highly diverse region in political, economic, and cultural aspects, thereby contributing not only to the development of the region but also to the global economy.
The concept emphasized three key principles: 
a. Avoid exclusive regionalism.
b. Maintain free and open interdependence.
c. Ensure complementarity with existing bilateral and multilateral relationships, without contradiction. 

3. The economic development of Japan and the Asian NIEs during the 1960s and 1970s not only stimulated economic exchanges and deepened interdependence within the Pacific region, but also brought various issues to the surface. These challenges, in turn, heightened the momentum for cooperation among Pacific nations as described above. 
However, the path toward realizing this cooperation was not entirely smooth and involved numerous twists and turns. This was due to factors such as the wariness of Southeast Asian and ASEAN countries toward activities advocated by Japan and led by advanced Pacific nations, as well as criticism from some quarters that these efforts might constitute the formation of an anti-communist bloc. 
Nevertheless, despite these circumstances, Pacific cooperation activities continued to make steady progress. Furthermore, a groundbreaking development occurred when U.S. trade with the Pacific surpassed its trade with the Atlantic, reinforcing expectations and the perception of a "Pacific Era."