ASIA PACIFIC REGION MORE INTEGRATED SINCE APEC

SINGAPORE, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- The Asia-Pacific region has become more
integrated since the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) was formed,
according to a new index released by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council
(PECC).

The PECC said the region as a whole and as individual economies, had become
steadily more integrated with each other since 1990, except for a brief period
from 2001 to 2003.

In a statement, the council said the economies which had become more
integrated with the region since 1991 were Hong Kong, New Zealand, Vietnam and
South Korea.

It said Singapore topped the list as the most integrated economy in the
region although it was in fact, less integrated with the Asia-Pacific region in
2006 than in 1991.

The index of economic integration is based on a combination of measures that
on one hand looks at the extent to which the reference economies are
becoming more alike in their economic characteristics and on the other,the
relative importance of trade, investment and human flows within the region
compared to economic relations with the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, according to another report released by the PECC at the Apec
meeting here, public policies and programmes were needed to reduce the impact of
high food prices on the population most vulnerable to it -- the world's poor.

The report, Market Volatility and the Food System, also stated that safety
net programmes could address short term needs but raising incomes must be the
long term focus.

It also said of all agricultural commodity markets, the world rice trade was
among the most volatile in the 2000s.

Given the central role of rice in the diet and in agricultural production in
the region, volatile rice prices were the single most important phenomenon
affecting the region's food system in recent years, the report added.
--BERNAMA