PACIFIC BASIN ECONOMIC COUNCIL
MAIN PAGE | SPEECHES & EDITORIALS | 2002 | CHAIRMAN'S LETTER

Letter from the Chairman By Mr. S.R. Cho Chairman, Pacific Basin Economic Council Chairman, Hyosung Group (Korea) Pacific Journal Summer 2002     Mr. S.R. Cho As the new Chairman of PBEC, I am inheriting the fruit of invaluable efforts made by my illustrious predecessors. The 35th IGM at Kuala Lumpur was a very successful conference in terms of its program contents with attractive speakers and substantive contents. This was undoubtedly owing to the extra-ordinary effort made by our colleagues of the PBEC Malaysia Committee with the assistance of the IS staff, and we are indeed grateful to them. But it also shows the recognition PBEC receives for its contribution throughout its thirty-five year history. In spite of the success of the IGM, however, there are serious challenges ahead that PBEC must face. PBEC is the oldest of any organization promoting Pan-Pacific economic cooperation and is the only purely private of such organizations. As the future course of the world is increasingly driven by private business initiatives, the role of PBEC as “the independent voice of business in the Pacific” is assuming ever-greater importance. But this very force of private business initiatives is also placing such competitive pressure on the business for survival and immediate returns that many companies and businessmen find themselves hard pressed to invest their time and resources to participate in PBEC. Furthermore, there are increasing number of organizations with similar objectives and offerings as PBEC and thus compete for the resources of the businesses. The Board of Directors at the 35th IGM, in recognizing this challenge, has launched the most serious action program to date to strengthen the organization. A Working Committee was formed to propose the plan for the Board to act on at the Los Cabos Mid-term Meeting in October of this year. Broadly speaking the objectives of the action program is to enhance the standing of PBEC as the effective voice of business in the Pacific Basin with stronger participation of business leaders and bolstered finances. This, of course, will require attractive values in programs and services offered to our members. In short, we need to re-examine every aspect of PBEC. While we are only beginning this task and do not yet know its full scope, it is fair to assume that the task will require hard work. But it should not be too surprising in this rapidly changing environment. After all, how many of our more than one thousand member firms and institutions remain unchanged in the past thirty-five years? I am firmly convinced however that all of our members firmly believe in the cause and mission of PBEC. With the dedication and support of all our members, I am certain that we will bring PBEC to the new height and grandeur that its mission deserves.