Since 1995, the Economic Committee has produced APEC Economic Outlook annually. The 1999 APEC Economic Outlook is the fifth in this series. The major focus of this year’s Outlook is the Asian crisis. The Asian crisis has had wide-ranging, far-reaching impacts on APEC economies, and thus has been a central concern for the APEC community.

This year’s Outlook reviews economic developments and prospects in the APEC region in the wake of the crisis, and discusses some key issues arising from the crisis. It concludes that the upward trend observed to date in APEC economies will continue in the second half of 1999 through the year 2000, although the crisis continues to have impacts on APEC economies. It also provides a summary of the trends of various key economic indicators to demonstrate how APEC economies have performed through the Asian crisis period.

Each year, one member economy takes on the coordinator role for the preparation of the Outlook. The first Outlook was prepared under the leadership of Japan in 1995, followed by the US (1996), Korea (1997), and China (1998). This year, Chile has taken on the challenging task. The APEC Economic Outlook is unique in that it is produced by collaborative efforts by all member economies. While the coordinator economy bears the heaviest responsibility, all member economies make significant contributions by providing their individual reports and updated data to the coordinator economy. Many economies also spend time and energy reviewing draft reports prepared by the coordinator economy and provide useful comments to improve the quality of the final product.
Particular thanks are due to the Chilean team led by Dr. Alvaro Garcia Hurtado (former Minister of Economy). The shorter-than-usual APEC cycle this year has made the preparation of this year’s Outlook particularly difficult. I would like to express my appreciation for the great efforts of Messrs. Pablo Furche of Chile’s Ministry of Economy and Hideyuki Ibaragi of Japan’s Economic Planning Agency, who worked hard to finalize the report under the very tight schedule. Mr. Bradley Crofts, Director (Program) at the APEC Secretariat, skillfully saw the report through to publication.
Mitsuru Taniuchi
Chair, APEC Economic Committee
Tokyo, September 1999

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>