Chapter 6 - Different Members, Different Visions

Summary

Travel throughout the Asia–Pacific was an important part of the job of the Executive Director of APEC. During the year, I spoke at the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) annual meeting in Seoul, the Pacific Economic Co-operation Council (PECC) meeting in Hawaii, the Asia–Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce (APCAC) in Chinese Taipei, as well as various Chambers of Commerce (such as in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Hong Kong). I also attended and spoke at academic and think-tank conferences (Awashima Conference, Japan; Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta; Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore; East-West Center, Hawaii; and so forth). The purpose was to tell the APEC story far and wide throughout the region.

There was a great deal of interest in APEC, but it was not always matched by in-depth knowledge, which was quite understandable given the fact that APEC was less than five years old. APEC was always better known in Asia than in America. The Asian media were much more interested than the American or European media. This changed somewhat during the Seattle Leaders' Meeting when there was considerable U.S. and European interest (over 2,000 media representatives from the United States, Asia and Europe were in Seattle). This was an exception, however, and after the Seattle meeting, the U.S. media reverted to its European focus.

In addition to meeting with hundreds of APEC and non-APEC officials and journalists in Singapore, I made a special effort to reach the business/private sector. While business people by and large knew less about APEC than the journalists or officials, they were ready to listen and eager to learn more about APEC, especially if the focus was on what APEC could mean to the bottom-line.

While in Japan, we visited Osaka, Japan's gateway to Southeast Asia. There, interest in APEC was very high among officials and business people. Osaka is scheduled to host the first Asia–Pacific International Trade Fair in October 1994 and reportedly will be the venue of the APEC Leaders' Meeting in 1995. The Ministerial Meeting will be in Tokyo.