This site is not updated. Japan has become the second-largest economy and, with the United States, one of the world's leading aid donors. Thailand and Malaysia are fast approaching development levels close to those of the NIEs. Over the last decade, the East Asia and Pacific region has surpassed Western Europe to become the largest regional trading partner of the United States, both as a supplier of U.S. imports and as a market for its exports. The United States is the leading export market for the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand and is the second-largest export market for Malaysia and Indonesia.
Transportation also links the United States more closely to East Asia and the Pacific.
Air traffic on Pacific routes has overtaken Atlantic traffic on a passenger-mile basis. By the year 2000, the Pacific market is projected to account for almost half of total international traffic. The Philippines and Indonesia have economic reforms underway that, if sustained, will enable them to capitalize on their impressive potential. Australia and New Zealand also are engaged in difficult economic restructuring and trade liberalization efforts. Some Pacific island nations are not yet fully participating in the region's economic success.