In recent years increasing attention and study has focused on the Pacific Basin and the possibilities of establishing an institutional arrangement encompassing its littoral states. The idea of a formal Pacific economic grouping was first mooted by Japanese scholars in the 1960s, with the support of the then Foreign Minister Miki. This led to the proposal for a Pacific Free Trade ( AFT A) involving the five advanced Pacific countries of Japan, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand by academic economists from these countries, and the establishment of the Pacific Trade and Development Conference series (PAFTAD) in 1968. Initially the idea was to promote a free trade area of developed Pacific economies as a counter to the growth of trading blocs in other parts of the world, especially the European Common Market. Since then the proposal has been altered in objective and organization; membership is extended to include the developing economies of the Pacific Basin with the objective of a looser form of economic cooperation. In the last two to three years, the idea of a Pacific Community has received fresh impetus with increased official interests. The Prime Ministers of Japan and Australia have initiated studies on the Pacific Community. Similarly, the U.S. House and Senate East Asian subcommittees of international relations and foreign affairs have held hearings on the subject.1 Conferences with official support have been convened to explore the prospects of developing a Pacific Community organization. The first part of this paper examines the characteristics of the Pacific Basin countries and the rationale for a Pacific Community organization. Next, some of the proposals for such an organization are discussed and some of the problems involved in its implementation evaluated. Finally, the paper concludes with an examination of the concept from the viewpoint of ASEAN interests.