Integral Co Operation At Work

Over the past 2 decades, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its developing member countries have worked together to promote regional cooperation and integration (RCI). Evolving economic conditions continually pose new challenges to RCI efforts. In March 2012, about 160 representatives from Asia and the Pacific met to share their RCI experiences and discuss strategies for deepening RCI in the region. This summary of the conference features the discussions and presentations including information on major RCI programs. It aims to improve understanding of RCI and help guide future strategies within the region.

This report examines how countries in South Asia could capitalize on opportunities to cooperate for closer regional economic integration, in particular in the four broad areas of trade and market integration, regional connectivity, financial cooperation, and collective actions to address shared risks and vulnerabilities. It reveals that trade barriers, infrastructural deficits and political divergences have cost the sub-region direly in terms of lost opportunities for exports. The report underscores the prospects available for South Asian countries to play a stronger role in broader regionalism in Asia-Pacific as well as discusses the unique role of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in facilitating that process.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. This timely Handbook offers a detailed cross-policy assessment on the need, locale and impact of regional cooperation and integration, addressing how the principles of regional integration have affected multi-level governance and subsequent public policy. Individual chapters provide explanations of what regional cooperation means in a specific policy area, identify relevant theories, and present empirical evidence to support the arguments outlined.