No matter who wins next month's U.S. presidential race, relations with Asia will become more important in a period of financial turmoil around the world, the head of a Hawai'i-based think tank said Thursday.

Charles Morrison, president of the 48-year-old East-West Center, told members of the organization that both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain have great interest in and varying experiences with Asia. Neither is likely to substantially change the alliances the U.S. and Asian nations have forged, or de-emphasize Taiwan or North Korea as areas of special interest, he added.

"They have a comfort with the world, both of them, in a way that's, I think, quite remarkably different from the current president, particularly as (he) came into office," he said.

But Asian nations anticipate that the next U.S. administration will focus on regional issues in a way that has been lacking during the last eight years, Morrison added.

"We know that the president, whoever he will be, will be more interested in Asia than the last president has been," he said. "The world of the past century was a European world ... The world of this coming century will be a global world, but the Asia-Pacific region will be at the core of that world."

One of the most important issues the next president will grapple with is climate change, which both Obama and McCain believe is a critical danger, Morrison said.

But if the next president seeks international agreements to curtail carbon dioxide emissions, he will have to do so in a way that China and India will not consider an impingement on their economies, Morrison added.

The next president will also decide whether to seek more trade agreements in Asia-Pacific accords that in the past have generated significant opposition in Congress, Morrison said. He noted that the next Congress is most likely to consist of more Democrats, who tend to be critical of free trade pacts.

Still, Morrison said more attention to Asia and its concerns is likely to accrue to Hawaii's economic benefit. Moreover, the next Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is scheduled to be held in the United States in 2011.

"Of course, I would like to see that in Hawai'i," he added.