Word: traded
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...anxiety over APEC's economic future has rejuvenated an idea once dismissed as unwieldy and unrealistic: the knitting together of a free-trade zone, similar to the European Union, straddling the Asia-Pacific region. Proposed by APEC's Business Advisory Council, this zone would include most of Asia (but not India) and a sliver of Central and South America, as well as big non-Asian economies like the U.S., Russia and Canada. If all of APEC's member countries participated - a big if - its combined annual GDP would be $37 trillion, 21/2 times that of the E.U., the world...
...concept of linking some of the world's fastest-growing economies isn't new. Various versions of an Asian free-trade zone have been mooted in the past. But with Asian economies leading the world out of recession while America languishes, the topic is coming up with increasing frequency. At a meeting of regional leaders hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Thailand last month, Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama proposed an "East Asian community" that would bind together Japan, China, South Korea and the 10 countries of Southeast Asia, plus India, Australia and New Zealand. Hatoyama...
...logic for closer Asian economic integration is becoming more compelling as intraregional trade becomes more important when compared with Asia's trade with the West. According to HSBC, the share of Asia's exports to the U.S. and Europe declined to 30% of the regional total in 2008, down from nearly 40% in 1998. Over the same period, intraregional exports as a share of total exports in emerging Asia rose to 54% from 46%. "Intra-Asian trade flows are the fastest growing in the world," says Lawrence Webb, global head of trade and supply chain at HSBC. This trend...
...Asian free-trade zone would aid economic growth by cutting import duties and eliminating the murky morass of trade barriers that impedes commerce. A model to emulate would be the establishment of the E.U., which made it far easier for companies to import and export their goods within Europe, says HSBC's Webb. Establishing a common Asian currency similar to the euro would allow companies to ship goods or arrange credit with less exposure to currency risk. "A barrier to trade over the last year in Asia has been fluctuating currencies," Webb says. "For a small- to medium-sized business...
...chatter of the formation of an Asian trading bloc could make things awkward for U.S. President Barack Obama during his scheduled appearance at APEC in Singapore. But some American businessmen support the idea - as long as the U.S. is included. Creating a common set of trade rules would simplify the bewildering spaghetti bowl of bilateral trade agreements that have been signed between various Asian countries in recent years, executives say. Others, worried about their prospects in a China-led free-trade zone, are eager to see APEC take the lead. Says Kevin Thieneman, the Southeast Asia and India country manager...