The vision of an integrated, poverty-free, prosperous, and peaceful Asia and Pacific underlies initiatives to support regional cooperation and integration (RCI) in the region. Changing world economic realities have highlighted the importance of closer economic cooperation in the region and the need within ADB for a coherent and strategically focused approach to RCI.

Building on its previous initiatives on regional cooperation, ADB has developed a coherent RCI strategy by consolidating its efforts since the early 1990s. On 25 July 2006, the ADB Board of Directors endorsed the RCI Strategy, in which ADB plays an active role as catalyst, coordinator, and knowledge leader of RCI in Asia and the Pacific. The RCI Strategy has four pillars:

Established in 1 April 2005, the Office of Regional Economic Integration (OREI) facilitates and coordinates ADB's efforts in RCI and raises ADB’s profile in key RCI events. OREI coordinates RCI activities by serving as a knowledge center on RCI as well as a key player in policy consultation and institutional capacity building for developing member countries and regional/subregional groups.

To support the RCI strategy, OREI launched the Asia Regional Integration Center (ARIC) on 2 October 2006¹ as a knowledge and information portal on RCI in Asia and the Pacific. It monitors emerging trends in regional economic integration, particularly flagship programs under ADB initiatives on RCI, and publishes the latest statements of ADB Management on RCI progress.

Among knowledge products, the Integration Indicators Database is a user-friendly and flexible statistical tool that features a set of integration indicators to monitor progress on RCI. ARIC also houses the only online database that tracks free trade agreements (FTAs) in Asia and the Pacific. The FTA Database contains all bilateral and plurilateral agreements globally with at least one Asian country as signatory. It covers all agreements at all stages of development, from those under study or consultation to those in force. This database also provides users agreement texts to easily compare FTAs.

Initiative-specific resources, made available for the four RCI pillars, provide a comprehensive coverage of latest headline news, insightful editorials, cutting-edge research, and links to related websites on RCI.

As a new knowledge resource published by OREI, the Working Paper Series on Regional Economic Integration provides in-depth analysis of major topics relating to RCI. Other related papers and books by ADB staffs are included. The Seminar Series on Regional Economic Integration brings together key people involved in regional integration for strategic discussions on emerging issues. 

Asian Macroeconomic Developments covers an array of resources on selected Asian countries. These include economic and financial data, economic reports, policy researches, as well as the Asian Economic Monitor which provides a semiannual review and outlook on growth and development in emerging East Asia.  

The vast trove of information found in ARIC makes it a vital source for a wide variety of users, including policymakers from major government agencies, economic and policy analysts in the multilateral aid community, strategic groups in the private sector, relevant nongovernment organizations, academic researchers, journalists, and economic commentators.