HONOLULU (Aug. 18) – East-West Center President Charles E. Morrison was unanimously elected to a second term as chair of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) at a PECC Standing Committee meeting in Bangkok on July 26. He is the first chair to have served a three-year term and the first American to chair PECC since 1993. PECC also named Mr. Jusuf Wanandi of Indonesia as the Asia co-chair, beginning in 2009. Mr. Wanandi has served on the EWC’s Board of Governors and has chaired its International Advisory Panel.
As chair of PECC, Morrison guides the network of 26 Member Committees representing most of the economies of the Asia Pacific region. Each Member Committee comprises leaders from the academic, business and governmental sectors. The American committee, which is called the U.S. Asia Pacific Council, has its secretariat at the East-West Center’s office in Washington and is chaired by Ambassador Stapleton Roy, now of Kissinger Associates. The Council will be the host committee for the next PECC general meeting in Washington in May 2009.
PECC, a non-governmental organization whose secretariat is based in Singapore, was established in 1980 as an independent regional forum for cooperation and policy coordination to promote economic development in the region. It is widely regarded as the antecedent to the intergovernmental Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. PECC provides information and analytical support for APEC ministerial meetings and working groups, and is one of the three official observers of APEC.
As chair, Morrison oversaw a significant change in the PECC work program, away from permanent subgroups and toward shorter-term, action-oriented task forces. PECC also initiated an annual State of the Region Report, which includes a macroeconomic forecast and a survey of regional opinion on economic issues. Current task forces address trade, labor mobility, and educational service issues. PECC has also augmented its regional partnerships, partnering with the APEC Business Advisory Council on two recent task forces.
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For further information, please contact:
Karen Knudsen, Director of External Affairs, East-West Center
(808) 944-7195 or knudsenk@eastwestcenter.org
The East-West Center is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center contributes to a peaceful, prosperous and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Funding for the Center comes from the U.S. government, with additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations, and the governments of the region.