Pacific Economic Community: A Consensual Region

Abstract

Both the words of the prime minister and the action of the Canadian government in announcing its intent to establish an AsianPacific Foundation as a means of expanding Canadians' understanding of Pacific countries and cultures bear witness to the need to consider just what this region signifies. Because much of the evidence of commonality of interests relates to economic affairs, we focus here on economic attitudes and priorities. The essential questions to ask about Pacific economic co-operation are three: Is the perception of the potential of the Pacific region valid? How are the principal countries of the region likely to view regional economic linkages in relation to their national aims and priorities? What form of international co-operation is most likely to ensure that the benefits of the region's dynamism will be realized? The first of these questions need not detain us long. It is common knowledge that the rates of economic growth in the market economies of the western Pacific during the 1970s resulted in annual per-capita real income increases of between 4 and 8 per cent.