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Pacific Rim economies must forecast the future

The Asia Pacific (AP) nations are recovering fast from the currency crisis that rocked the region not long ago.

There were many lessons learned from currency meltdown including the need to depend less on the U.S. dollar and more on local currencies.

With the year 2000 approaching, the AP nations must look ahead in order to progress effectively.

Despite the recent problems, the region has experienced record trade surpluses with the rest of the world. Some of this, undoubtedly, has been due to the strong dollar.

When the dollar is strong, Americans can buy goods from abroad cheap, but there own exports become more expensive.

However, even if we take in to account the percent growth of AP imports, there still has been a steady increase in the overall balance favoring the AP region.

There can be no doubt that much of this is due to the high quality and competitiveness of AP products and services. Another factor is the rich natural resources of some nations in the region, for example, the petroleum reserves of Indonesia, Malaysia, Borneo and the Central Asian states.

The financial crisis showed one thing is certain. AP economies are regional. Currency meltdowns in one area spread to another regardless of national borders.

As the millenium renews itself, the economies of the Asia Pacific region will likely grow or shrink in a largely regional manner.

In order to make sure that development stays on track, the AP industries must forecast economic, business, technical, social and other trends well beforehand.

And if they're smart they will do this in a cooperative manner because the interdependent networks have already been established. The key, then, is to look ahead, and to look ahead together.