The Asia Pacific Region as a Block

The Asia- Pacific (APAC) is made up of countries which are located near or rather in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. The regions included in APAC include South Asia, Oceania, Southeast Asia as well as East Asia which are explained in the table below (Elek, 1992):

Region

Individual countries

East Asia

North Korea

Taiwan

Japan

South Korea

China

North Asia

The far East of Russia

South Asia

Bhutan

Bangladesh

India

Nepal

Pakistan

Maldives

British Indian Ocean Territory

Sri Lanka

Southeast Asia

Cambodia

Indonesia

Laos

East Timor

Brunei

Malaysia

Philippines

Myanmar

Singapore

Vietnam

Thailand

Oceania

Australia which includes Christmas Island, Cocos Island, Coral Sea Islands, Norfolk Island among others

New Zealand

Melanesia which includes Fiji, Vanuati, Solomon Island, New Caledonia and, Papua New Guinea

Micronesia which includes Kiribati, Guam, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Palau, and Wake Island

Polynesia which includes Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Wallis, Cook Islands, Easter Islands, and French Polynesia.

This union of countries enables the member countries to perform different tasks together to ensure that they are successful in ensuring that they assist each other in the various challenges affecting these parts of the world. In the past, they have been involved in training leaders, military personnel as well as programs, for example, professional exchange. This union has enabled peace as well as a corporation to reign among its member countries with conflicts solved in mature manners as well as assistance provided to its member countries in case of any (Harris, 1994).

The International Civil Aviation Organization (normally referred to as ICAO), is a global forum of various states aimed at harmonizing international civil aviation of member states. ICAO has always specialized in assisting states with serious safety deficiencies that are, guiding states on actions which provide or aims at providing solution aimed at providing solutions as well as improvements in the aviation safety sector (Mark and Andrew, 1995). Its obligation includes:

Ø Enhancing global civil aviation safety

Ø Improving efficiency as well as increasing capacity of the global civil aviation system

Ø Enhancing the development an economically viable as well as sound civil aviation system

Ø Protecting the environment from the extreme effects activities of civil aviation

Ø Enhancing the security of the global civil aviation

The Global Air Navigation Plan (commonly known as GANP) is aimed at enabling its members to advance in their air navigation capacities according to their different requirements operationally. This block was aimed at improving environmental efficiency, the realization of global harmonization in aviation as well as increasing capacity, all of which were demanded worldwide (Abeyratne, 2017). Air transport has been a backbone in the economic prosperity of any state due to its speed as well as efficiency in transporting people as well as goods and products across different countries. Enhancing the safety of aviation ensures that there exist quick as well as the efficient link between countries since large distances can be covered in a matter of hours unlike other forms of transports including railway as well as water transports. GANP has made major upgrades over the years which include:

Ø Improvement in airport operations

Ø Optimum capacity as well as flexible flights

Ø Efficient flight paths

Ø Enhancing global interoperable systems and data

Asia Pacific Region as a block has enhanced the implementation of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Global Air Navigation Plan in many ways since by the mutual harmony and understanding by its member states; it has been easier for GANP to be implemented effectively. The block has come up with principles which have enhanced this plan and thereby speeding up the plan. Most of its member states have opened up to their neighboring countries thereby ensuring the safety as well as the security of airplanes flying across their boundaries. This has enhanced aviation across the Asia Pacific member states boundaries enabling the GANP initiative to provide security as well as an easy flight across these boundaries as well as the world to be enhanced. Thereby, the Asia Pacific block has assisted in the security provision aim of the ICAO (Ball, 1993).

The Asia Pacific member states have a good relation as well as cooperation with each of its member states. This makes it easier for any principle as well as any operations supported by most of its member states to be easily successful. Successful harmonization in operations across the block has made it easier for policies as well as activities to implement across the block without resistance from the member states. This has made it easier for policies as well as operations of the ICAO to be made easier to be implemented within the block. The block has harmoniously participated in different programs over the years including collaboration in ensuring that there is enhanced communication within the block. The enhanced collaboration in communication has helped to ensure that there is easier as well as enhanced communication among the pilots and those in charge of guiding them in the airports. This will ensure that the planes are monitored closely in the different locations in which they might be within the block thereby enhancing aviation within these boundaries (Butler, 2011).

Surveillance is also one of the factors that have been advocated for by the Asia Pacific block. This is in line with ICAO’s Global Air Navigation Plan aimed at ensuring that the planes are put under surveillance to ensure that they are directed in case they get into dangerous areas in terms of nature, for example, whether as well as volcanic eruptions and mountains as well as security. Sharing of ATS has been adopted by most Asia Pacific member states enabling the sharing of ATS surveillance data across its borders which has enhanced safety in the aviation sector across these boundaries.  This block has also harmonized navigation, communication as well as management of data with the view of supporting surveillance in the aviation sector. This has enhanced safety through aircraft derived data for example trajectories, flight identification as well as intentions. This has been in line with ICAO’s Global Air Navigation Plan aimed at providing security to planes through surveillance as well as communication (Yong-gang, 2012).

There has been major aircraft management implementation in most of the Asia Pacific block member states as a means of ensuring that flights are monitored as well as reserved to prevent air traffic as well as to avoid the collision by planes. This process involves setting up departure times which has to be met by their different aircraft operators as well as arrival times. The Asia Pacific block has also helped in the implementation of basic aviation laws, promulgation as well as codes of air navigations which were put in place by the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Global Air Navigation Plan (Fitzgerald and Ahmad). This has made it easier for the ICAO not to get directly involved in the monitoring most of these laws, promulgations as well as regulations which have been put into practice by governments of the different states within the Asia Pacific Block. Some countries have even gone a step further to come up with bodies, mandated by the government to ensure that these laws, regulations, as well as promulgations, are put into action within their boundaries failure to which can warrant criminal charges (Abeyratne, 2017).

Asia Pacific Block member states have helped in ensuring that rescue operations, as well as searches, are made easier especially within their boundaries. Most states have come up with means with which they can locate lost planes as well as those that have been involved in accidents. There have been accidents where many planes in the past have not been located especially along the Pacific Ocean. It is very hard to locate planes since most of the accidents involve the scattering of the plains into different parts of the ocean. Most of the Asia Pacific block members have helped in organizing SAR training which is aimed at assisting in ensuring that the search, as well as rescue missions involving planes, are done professionally and quickly to ensure that lives are not lost in the process. The Asia Pacific block is has helped in the obtaining of enough funds to aid projects that were decided by the Global Air Navigation Plan.  Their partnership, as well as collaboration, has made it possible for them to come up with big projects and fully pay for these projects which were in the GANP. This has made it cheap for it to finance its projects. 

Different technologies have also been introduced to poor states as a means of ensuring that aviation in these parts of the block is kept in the same level of aviation system as those of the rich states. This ensures that there is that harmonization in the GANP implementation which is aimed at ensuring that the aviation sector or system is enhanced and made more efficient than before. By a matter of fact, 6 of the ten largest nations worldwide are within the APAC region playing vital roles in world’s vital effort to enhance human development, international security as well as an important role in economy globally. The Asian economies have helped in the eradication of poverty in many parts of the world as well as helping in the building of many cities as well as modern ports (Asian miracles). The Asian Pacific block members, although they have very magnificent contributions to the world today have suffered a lot of challenges which include growing religious and ethnic disparity, poverty persistence, widening disparities in income as well as corruption. They also suffer from natural disasters, for example, harsh climatic change as well as other natural phenomena.  The table shows the challenges faced by these countries:

Exclusion of women from economic life as well as politics.

Income inequality and persistent poverty.

Lack of accountability as well as transparency by their governments.

Climate change

Water resource management

Religious and ethnic conflicts

Disaster management

Access to human rights as well as justice

Corruption.

The future is very bright for the Asia Pacific block members due to their unity in ensuring that all its member countries are kept up economic wise. Having six out of the ten largest economies in the world, this is a rich block which has a very bright future. In the near future, it is expected of these states to allow women in politics as well as the economy. This will enhance their economies by almost twice what it is today since women can play a very big role in a country’s success. It is also expected that the trade partnership between these countries will be enhanced and any tariffs which might hinder this will be scrubbed of including high taxation. The member states are expected to come with one currency of their own which they will use as their medium of exchange to ensure that trade, as well as other cooperation, is made easier. More modern cities, as well as ports, are expected to be constructed in these areas to enhance their economic prosperities. Due to their strong relationship, peace is expected to reign and any form of conflicts will be dealt with in their earlier stages to ensure that peace and prosperity reigns in this block. Political stability, as well as corruption free governments, are expected to come in due to their recent fights over corruption. This will enhance their prosperity which will lead to more states joining this block in order to gain from them. In conclusion, Asia Pacific block is expected to prosper as well as expand in terms of member states in the near future due to the benefits it gives to its member states.

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