MAIN PAGE | EVENTS & PROGRAMS | 2001 | IGM | SPEECHES | IWAO MATSUDA
PACIFIC BASIN ECONOMIC COUNCIL
MAIN PAGE | EVENTS & PROGRAMS | 2001 | IGM | SPEECHES | IWAO MATSUDA
Regional Vitality in the 21st Century
April 6-10, 2001 — Tokyo, Japan
Mr. Iwao Matsuda
Special Representative Fidel Ramos, Deputy Prime Minister Jin Nyum, Minister Rafidah Aziz, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, It is a great privilege for me to speak to the leaders of the Asia-Pacific business world today. It is also a very significant opportunity for discussion with Special Representative Fidel Ramos, a controversialist representing the Asia-Pacific region, Deputy Prime Minister Jin Nyum and Minister Rafidah Aziz. Today's Leaders' Forum has been given the topic of "New Challenges in the Asia-Pacific Region." As a prerequisite for surveying the future from our position at the beginning of the 21st century, I would first like to conduct a simple review of current economic conditions in the Asia-Pacific region. Most of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region were greatly affected by the Asian economic crisis that began in 1997. In addition, the financial crisis that originated in the Asian economic crisis also had a major impact, including falling share prices and currencies, on capital markets in such disparate countries as Russia and Brazil. Since then, Asian countries have overcome the economic crisis as a result of their efforts for structural reform, the support of the developed nations and international institutions and the global electronics boom against a background of the development in IT, and they are once again aiming for high economic growth. Despite some concerning factors, the US economy has achieved steady growth. The ASEAN economies are now the world's largest suppliers in the IT field. China is establishing a position as the "factory of the world" primarily in consumer goods, as a result of its open policies. While there is naturally some instability, the economies of the Asia-Pacific region are once again on the road to recovery. When surveying future developments, I believe that there are more lessons we can learn from the Asian economic crisis, which had such a major impact on the world economy. These lessons include the fact that the international financial system was in fact vulnerable to crisis, and the fact that each country in our region needs to work towards structural reform. However, as I survey the future of the Asia-Pacific region, I believe that the most important lesson of all to learn from the Asian economic crisis is the fact that the economies of all our countries are already inseparably intertwined. We witnessed that, as a result of globalization, there is a danger that crisis in one country can infect other countries instantaneously. In this respect, the importance of the "human network" in the Asia-Pacific region was touched on by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in his message at the opening ceremony. I believe that it is important to further deepen the cooperative relationships within the Asia-Pacific region on the basis of this human network with an awareness that the development of each individual country will have a positive influence on all. 2. New Challenges for the Asia-Pacific Region in the 21st Century In this forum, I would like to focus on the importance of three issues concerning the achievement of future development for the Asia-Pacific region. Promotion of a new round of WTO talks Firstly, there is the maintenance and strengthening of the global free trade system based on the WTO. During the last ten years, the Asia-Pacific region has achieved economic growth of close to 5%, which is high in comparison with other regions. During this time, while overall global trade has grown at the 5% level, trade in the Asia-Pacific region has shown strong growth of nearly 8%. I think that there are a variety of reasons for the growth of the Asia-Pacific economy, but I believe that the major reason for the astonishing growth in the Asia-Pacific region is that we have been able to use the expansion of trade within the global free trade system as an engine for growth. The establishment of a new round of WTO talks is now the biggest issue in the promotion of global trade. It is the WTO that has supported the globalization trend that has progressed so far, but there are also concerns about globalization, including a backlash against the speed of development of globalization, as was graphically demonstrated at the last WTO Ministerial Meeting in Seattle. I believe that the next new round of WTO talks has the historic mission of harmonizing the progress of globalization with the concerns that accompany it through measures to address the negative aspects of globalization and the prevention of protectionism. Working in cooperation with the ministers attending today's gathering from a variety of countries, I hope to contribute to the successful start up of a new round of talks by the end of this year. 3. Promotion of APEC Secondly, there is the issue of regional cooperation within the Asia-Pacific and, among others, the promotion of APEC. APEC is the largest forum for regional cooperation that includes the Asia-Pacific region. APEC already has a history going back over ten years, and it has developed steadily as a forum for regional cooperation. However, it is also true that there are criticisms of APEC's activities thus far. For example, these include the comment that it merely holds repeated meetings only producing declarations and plans unaccompanied by adequate implementation, and that it has not made as much headway as expected with its main activity which is the liberalization of trade and investment. However, I take a different perspective. During the last ten years, as APEC has developed its activities, an extensive policy network has been constructed in the Asia-Pacific region that include leaders and policymakers. Based on this, policymakers in every country exchange opinions concerning policy on an almost daily basis using e-mail. I hope that, based on this network, the cooperation between the countries of the Asia-Pacific will become even deeper. In fact, APEC has produced results from cooperation that include mutual support for structural economic reform measures in each country and mutual support for adaptation to the WTO system. However, for APEC to become a truly effective forum for cooperation, we need the suggestions and advice of all of you who are attending today from the business world. We are hoping for continued assistance from you all. Structural economic reform by each country Thirdly, as a result of the development of mutual economic dependence in the Asia-Pacific region, the promotion of structural economic reform by each country increasing and displaying the latent potential for growth will have a positive impact on our economies and will be the route to ensuring overall development for the Asia-Pacific region. From this perspective, the current Japanese government has been making the utmost efforts to revive the Japanese economy as its most pressing issue. With the slowdown in exports and production amidst the slump in consumer spending, the Japanese economy is approaching a plateau, and there are concerns over where it is heading. It is true that, as concerns the Japanese economy, the last ten years have been called the "lost decade" by some. However, as the finishing touches to our efforts to revive the Japanese economy over the last ten years, we are now taking resolute action on structural reform, including the final disposal of bad debts, that will put the economy firmly back on track to autonomous recovery. From this perspective, we put together a package of emergency economic measures last weekend. The emergency economic measures are based on three objectives. These are, firstly, the final disposal of bad debts, secondly, the revitalization of the stock market, and, thirdly, the creation of new markets and new employment. In addition, at the end of last year we put together the "Action Plan for Economic Structure Reform," and we have decided to take structural reform measures in as many as 260 areas within three years. The prosperity of the US economy and the IT boom that have been a tail wind for the Japanese economy are forecast to weaken in the future. However, I firmly believe that the resolute promotion of structural reform will open the path to the revival of the Japanese economy. I am confident that once it has achieved radical structural reform, the Japanese economy will be more than capable of functioning as the engine of economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region in the 21st century. 4. Conclusion It is often said that the 21st century will be the "Asia-Pacific era". I believe that if we are able to respond positively to a variety of urgent issues and resolve them, then it certainly will be. However, it is my hope as one who lives in the Asia-Pacific region, that it will function not only as a center of economic development, but also to give rise to a blossoming of a unique Asia-Pacific culture based on the results of economic development. The major characteristic of the Asia-Pacific region is its diversity. Each country has its own special characteristics in a variety of areas including populations, ethnicity, culture and religion. I believe that it is this very diversity that forms the vitality of the Asia-Pacific region. It may be a rather simple example, but I am sure that you are all familiar with something called Pacific Rim Cuisine. Since the 1990s, a distinctive cuisine that adds the tastes of Asia and Latin America to existing French cuisine and others has been developing in the culinary world of the Asia-Pacific region. It is a new culinary trend that uses spices and seasonings from each area based on fresh local ingredients such as seafood. The characteristic of this cuisine is that it blends the distinctive preparation methods, ingredients, spices and seasonings of each area producing an overall harmony without the loss of individual identities. I believe that this is the face of the future that the Asia-Pacific region should be aiming for. I hope that we will create an Asia-Pacific culture with an overall harmony without losing our distinguishing characteristics, such as the unique culture of each country. I believe that the true "Asia-Pacific era" will arrive when we have created this thriving culture on the foundation of a strong economy. I hope that we will receive some guides to the future through discussions with top ministers representing the Asia-Pacific region at today's forum. Thank you. |
![[ Regional Vitality in the 21st Century ]](../logo128.jpg){kind=logo}