The need to assure the future stability of the region is understood and has led to the formation of the 17-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation regional pact. Per capita income will continue to increase more rapidly in Asia Pacific in the future than in the US because of much higher savings and domestic capital formation rates. A dramatic income acceleration is expected to occur in some of the Pacific Rim countries, especially China. For the rest of this decade and much of the next, growth rates in the Asian Pacific are expected to be double those of the United States and Europe. Economic growth and technological advances will improve standards of living around the Pacific Rim while Europe's slow income growth and unemployment problems can be expected to persist for some time.
Japan faces some challenges in the years ahead as it restructures to regain forward momentum.
As the Japanese economy recovers from the consequences of boom times past and adjusts to the more open and competitive global economy, the benefits will extend outside Japan. Japanese travel overseas annually and this number is likely to double in the next decade. Similar or even larger gains in the demand for travel can be expected in the other industrial economies of Asia. With the demand for travel rising in the region, Guam and the rest of the American Pacific are natural destinations for a growing number of Asian travelers. To the extent that tourism is the Western Pacific's comparative advantage and Asian tourists want to travel to relatively nearby places that offer the tourist services they seek, the two regions will benefit from each other's growth and prosperity.