Current patterns of Asia Pacific trade

Abstract

THE rapid expansion of Asia Pacific trade, especially those of East and Southeast Asian countries in the latter half of the 1980s, is well known and envied by those outside the region to the extent that they are afraid of being left behind. In the 1990s, however, movements toward regional integration in Western Europe and North America were publicised so widely that East Asians, concerned about their possible exclusion from these movements, proposed regional integration of their own. It is important, however, to base discussions of current trends of trade expansion on objective fact findings. The aim of this short note is to attempt a quantitative appraisal of trade performance in the Asia Pacific region since the mid 1980s and characterise its development in a global context, that is, in comparison with Western Europe and North America.