Report Title:

Pacific Basin Economic Council

WHEREAS, the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) is an association of senior business leaders from more than 1,000 corporations representing 20 regional economies around the Pacific; and

WHEREAS, PBEC serves as a forum through which business leaders create new business relationships, exchange views with government officials, and produce recommendations on key business issues; and

WHEREAS, PBEC hosts the premier business conference in the region each year, the International General Meeting (IGM) bringing together more than 700 business leaders, government ministers, and heads of state; and

WHEREAS, the 33^rd IGM was a premier event that brought together PBEC member companies that accounted for more than four trillion dollars in global sales and employed more than ten million people worldwide; and

WHEREAS, the goal of the PBEC meeting is to look toward the immediate future from various angles to come to a better understanding of what globalization is doing to enterprises, industries, international organizations, international relations, and governments; and

WHEREAS, the globalization process is inevitable and the world community must try to adjust to it as quickly as possible to avoid becoming vulnerable to the new competitive forces that can create social tensions and political turmoil; and

WHEREAS, holding the IGM in this State will help establish Hawaii as a legitimate place to conduct international business and an ideal location for prestigious international meetings; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, that this body supports the PBEC and its efforts to hold the 34^th IGM in Honolulu; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Pacific Basin Economic Council and the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.