New directions in Asia-Pacific economic integration

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/In 2014, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum celebrates its 25th anniversary in a vastly changed region and world. In Bogor, Indonesia, 20 years earlier, APEC committed to achieve free trade and investment in the region by 2020. In Beijing in 2014, China will again make regional economic integration an APEC priority. These papers draw on two conferences organized by the China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation and are published jointly with the United States Asia Pacific Council. As one contributor put it, APEC earns an "A" for its vision of regional economic integration, but its grade on execution remains "incomplete." Yet pathways to the Bogor Goals are coming into focus. This book examines the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership negotiations from various perspectives, and considers possibilities for their consolidation into a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). It also explores regional connectivity and the proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Experts from nearly every APEC economy explore the benefits and challenges of regional economic integration. Their perspectives differ, but also reveal striking common ground. They offer practical recommendations for the Asian and trans-Pacific pathways--for ensuring their compatibility, and for promoting their convergence into an FTAAP.Introduction / Tang Guoqiang -- 1. The trans-pacific partnership: looking ahead to next steps / Deborah Kay Elms -- 2. Japan's approach to the TPP / Masahiro Kawai -- 3. Canada and the TPP: short-term tactics and long-term strategy / Hugh Stephens -- 4. Chile and the TPP: waiting for outcomes / Rodrigo Contreras -- 5. How far away is China from the TPP? / Zhang Jianping -- 6. The TPP, China, and FTAAP: the case for convergence / Peter A. Petri, Michael G. Plummer, Fan Zhai -- 7. The regional comprehensive economic partnership: an initial assessment / Ganeshan Wignaraja -- 8. East Asian multi-track regional partnership / Djisman Simandjuntak -- 9. A stages approach to regional economic integration in Asia Pacific: the RCEP, TPP, and FTAAP / Shujiro Urata -- 10. The RCEP: a Chinese Perspective / Quan Yi -- 11. South Korea's recent FTA policy: a personal viewpoint / Inkyo Cheong -- 12. Australia's free trade agreements with Japan and South Korea: lessons for the future / Christopher Findlay -- 13. APEC in 2014: meeting new challenges / Zhang Yunling -- 14. US Economic strategy in the Asia-Pacific region: promoting growth, rules, and presence / Matthew P. Goodman -- 15. Where to with cooperation across Asia and the Pacific now? / Peter Drysdale -- 16. Placing increased priority on services in APEC / Sherry Stephenson -- 17. Connecting APEC economies through infrastructure, governance, and social inclusion / Tan Khee Giap, Yap Xin Yi -- 18. APEC's role in promoting Asia-pacific regional economic integration / Liu Chenyang -- 19. The TPP and RCEP: prospects for convergence / Robert Scollay -- 20. Asia-Pacific economic integration: projecting the path forward / Jeffrey J. Schott -- 21. Regional economic integration strategy of South Korea / Sangkyon Kim -- 22. How to push the WTO Doha Round in the current RTA talks? / Winichai Chaemchaeng -- 23. The Asia-Pacific cooperation agenda: moving from regional cooperation toward global leadership / Charles E. Morrison