Japan and the Pacific Basin

Abstract

Following the Treaty of Rome, which in 1957 established the European Economic Community (EEC), there have been many attempts in other parts of the world at regional economic cooperation. None has so far achieved the EEC’s measure of success, but some — like Comecon or the Andean Community — merit attention. It may be of interest to discuss briefly another, though distant, relation of the EEC, namely the Pacific Basin project, and particularly Japan’s prospective role in that projected organization. As it exists now, the Pacific Basin project is an association of private businessmen in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States, who in 1967 formed the Pacific Basin Economic Cooperation Committee. This Committee was set up for “the promotion of economic collaboration between the member countries” and “cooperation with the developing countries in their self-sustaining effort to achieve economic growth”. This is a less ambitious and specific goal than the initial aims of the EEC: “establishing a Common Market and progressively approximating the
economic policies of Member States, to promote throughout the Community a harmonious development of economic activities, a continuous and balanced expansion, an increased stability, an accelerated raising of the standard of living, and closer relations between its Member States.