Why is the centre of international economic dynamism moving towards the countries of the East and South East Asia? Are there common elements that explain this success? Divided into two parts, the authors consider the central debates concerning the developm

"A spectacular transition is under way in the Pacific Islands, as a result of which all our lives will be radically different. In the last fifty years or so, Asia has begun to play a bigger and bigger role in all aspects of Islands life - migration, trade and investment, aid and development, information and media, religion, culture and sport. It is replacing the West. The process is irreversible. With his trademark breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding of the region, based on over half a century of experience, study and deliberation, Ron Crocombe documents the early connections between Asia and the Pacific, details recent and continuing changes, and poses challenging theories about the future."--Publisher.

In GATT negotiations over the past several years the United States, a founding member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, has been pushing hard for a global liberalization of trade in services. This development would have special significance for the Pacific because of the intensifying competition between the United States and Japan for market shares. A comprehensive analysis of the service sector's role in that dynamic region is offered in this timely volume. Leading experts explore how service enterprises have affected trade in goods and transnational manufacturing, forming a regional pattern of interdependence. The authors assess each service sector from a regional perspective and offer detailed individual country studies as well. The concluding chapters provide a broad overview of corporate strategies, discuss questions of regional cooperation, and identify opportunities for new regional service enterprises.