Non-stop trans-Pacific flights became widespread only 40 years ago, in the 1970s, after Boeing 747 “Jumbo Jets” were fully introduced (Chart 2). Thus, it was not long ago that people began to see the Asia-Pacific region as an economic bloc. Indeed, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, was established as a forum for the governments of Asia-Pacific countries only in 1989.
Although there remains the geographical distance between Asia-Pacific economies, owing to technological innovation it is far less an obstacle to economic exchanges than before, and the Asia-Pacific countries have become able to enjoy the benefits of sitting around the same sea together.