Economic council forms local chapter

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Pacific Basin Economic Council, whose board is considering moving the group's headquarters from Honolulu to Asia, is forming a special Hawai'i chapter in an attempt to show local support for the organization.

PBEC has 1,000 members in 20 economies throughout the Pacific region but only four U.S. members who are based in Hawai'i.

"Often times, you're better known outside your home than in your home," said PBEC president Dalton Tanonaka. "That's the case with PBEC."

The organization has formed a new chapter in Hawai'i for members who would pay a $2,000 membership fee. Normal U.S. memberships start at $3,000 for small businesses and universities and typically cost an average of $8,500.

Hawai'i members would get the same benefits of regular U.S. membership — such as travel discounts and a new information report — but would not be allowed to vote on PBEC issues or hold office, Tanonaka said.

They would also get to meet business leaders who visit Honolulu, such as the chairman of South Korea's largest steel producer, Pohang Iron and Steel, who arrives next month, Tanonaka said.

"We can really be the access point for local business people wanting to do business in Asia," Tanonaka said.

PBEC was founded in 1967 and has been based in Honolulu since 1992. The organization's board of directors has not set a deadline to decide whether to move, but will hold its next international meeting in Seoul in May.

Mike Fitzgerald, president and chief executive officer of Enterprise Honolulu, a nonprofit economic development organization, plans to join the new Hawai'i chapter and would like to see PBEC's headquarters remain in Honolulu.

"It's a very prestigious thing to have that located here," Fitzgerald said. "Many of the biggest and best corporations on the planet are members of PBEC and many of them represent direct or indirect commercial opportunities to get introduced to those business or the political leaders of their countries."