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November 12, 2009 10:44 AM
Asia Pacific Region More Integrated Since APEC
SINGAPORE, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- The Asia-Pacific region has become more integrated since the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) was formed, according to a new index released by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC).
The PECC said the region as a whole and as individual economies, had become steadily more integrated with each other since 1990, except for a brief period from 2001 to 2003.
In a statement, the council said the economies which had become more integrated with the region since 1991 were Hong Kong, New Zealand, Vietnam and South Korea.
It said Singapore topped the list as the most integrated economy in the region although it was in fact, less integrated with the Asia-Pacific region in 2006 than in 1991.
The index of economic integration is based on a combination of measures that on one hand looks at the extent to which the reference economies are becoming more alike in their economic characteristics and on the other,the relative importance of trade, investment and human flows within the region compared to economic relations with the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, according to another report released by the PECC at the Apec meeting here, public policies and programmes were needed to reduce the impact of high food prices on the population most vulnerable to it -- the world's poor.
The report, Market Volatility and the Food System, also stated that safety net programmes could address short term needs but raising incomes must be the long term fpcus.
It also said of all agricultural commodity markets, the world rice trade was among the most volatile in the 2000s.
Given the central role of rice in the diet and in agricultural production in the region, volatile rice prices were the single most important phenomenon affecting the region's food system in recent years, the report added.
--BERNAMA
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