The New Zealand Committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (NZPECC) was a founding member of PECC. The Board has members split across the business, academic and government communities. All members participate in their private capacity and discuss freely on practical policy issues affecting New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region.

NZPECC works to gain strong business and institutional links into the Asia Pacific market and to tie public policy theory and research into practical business outcomes for New Zealand. NZPECC links with other organisations in New Zealand to ensure that interests are well covered.

Our Background

The idea of Asia-Pacific economic integration goes back at least to the 1960s. It was partly a response to European developments, but always had distinct Asian characteristics. Its earliest result was discussion among like-minded economists from around the Asia-Pacific area and Pacific Trade and Development Conference, PAFTAD, was formed. Business contacts were also institutionalised. By the end of the 1970s, various people, especially in Japan and Thailand, had begun exploring whether the network of informal academic and business networks should be linked more closely with intergovernmental dialogues. What emerged was the Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference, PECC, which was conceived as tripartite in nature, business, academic researchers, and officials in a private capacity. This tripartite characteristic was at the heart of “track 2”. It was carried into the notion that PECC should be a network of national committees, each of which would have a tripartite character. “Economic cooperation” was taken away from a dictionary meaning to a process of consensus building by discussion among academic researchers, business, and officials in a private capacity.

New Zealanders participated in PAFTAD and PBEC from their early days. Frank Holmes was prominent, and when PECC was formed, he chaired the New Zealand Planning Council and was the obvious New Zealand contact. The first New Zealand participants in PECC were Graeme Thompson, chief economist of the Council, and Bryce Harland, then Assistant Secretary for Asia at what is now MFAT. A New Zealand national committee was formed with recently retired minister, Brian Talboys, as the first chair. Prominent members included John Fair of BP who led New Zealand participation in the PECC mineral and energy task force, and Philip Major who led participation in fisheries task forces. Frank Holmes was a key memebr of the Trade Policy Forum.

Brian Talboys remained chair of NZPECC and chaired the international meeting, PECC VII, which occurred in Auckland in 1989. Because of the fortunate timing, he was the first representative of PECC as the only official observer at the initial APEC meeting. He was eventually succeeded by Kerrin Vautier (who was prominent in the development of PECC’s competition principles which have been adopted by APEC). The chair has subsequently been held by Gary Hawke, Coral Ingley, Denis McNamara, Brian Lynch and the current incumbent is Dr Alan Bollard.