Shiro Armstrong
Professor of Economics and Director of International Partnerships at the Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University
Topic:
The APEC opportunity
In a world gripped by uncertainty and a trading system that is fragmenting, APEC can be a stabilising force. But this is not a time for business as usual in APEC. Hosts and members need to be bold and contribute to confidence in the rules-based system through their actions and commitments.
APEC has assets — its non-binding voluntary cooperation, its diversity and thick official to official and business tracks — to deploy that other arrangements do not. The mode of cooperation in APEC is suited to the times and complements other binding arrangements. Non-binding and voluntary cooperation can make progress in areas where it is too difficult to negotiate and help to mobilise efforts around agreed principles and goals. They can also help agreements like CPTPP and RCEP converge and reduce the measures that divert trade and commerce.
Leadership from APEC will need to use the grouping creatively, encourage pathfinder approaches and better connect the leaders’ process to the work by officials, PECC and ABAC. Forging a new consensus to avoid economic disorder is the priority for APEC, building on the decades of successful cooperation and interdependence that has been achieved so far.
Speaker Bio:
Shiro Armstrong is Professor of Economics and Director of International Partnerships at the Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University. He is Director of the Australia-Japan Research Centre, Editor of the East Asia Forum, and Director of the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research. He is also a Visiting Professor at Keio University, Research Associate at the Center on Japanese Economy and Business at the Columbia Business School, Non-resident Fellow at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan and Research Associate at the New Zealand APEC Study Centre. He is the recipient of the 2024 Nakasone Yasuhiro Award. Professor Armstrong is a member of the Board of the Australia Japan Foundation and serves on the Academic Advisory Council of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
