Asia Regional Integration Center

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has cut its 2011 and 2012 growth forecasts for developing Asia amid ongoing worries about weak external demand from its key trading partners. In its Asian Development Outlook 2011 Update, ADB trimmed its full year forecast to 7.5% from 7.8% seen in April. The 2012 projection is also lowered slightly to 7.5% from 7.7% previously. Read report and press release. Listen to podcast. Watch video on the special theme on shifting demographics across developing Asia.

The size of local currency bond markets in emerging East Asia continued to expand in the first half of this year, rising to $5.5 trillion at the end of June, 2.4% higher in local currency terms than at the end of March, and 7.7% more than at the end of June 2010. The overall emerging East Asian market's growth was driven by corporate bonds, which grew by 4.4% quarter-on-quarter. The PRC's corporate bond market grew at a more rapid pace of 6.3% in the same period and is now the region's largest corporate bond market.Read the report and news release. Visit AsianBondsOnline.Listen to the podcast.

Using a qualitative case study method based on firm-level interviews, Vannarith Chheang and Shintaro Hamanaka identify structural constraints to growth and exports within Cambodia’s garment and food industries, and consider the policy actions needed to reduce obstacles to trade. A special emphasis is placed on Cambodia’s exports opportunities to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) under the free trade agreement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the PRC. Read the paper.

Ganeshan Wignaraja  compares the economic reforms and exports in the rising Asian giants, PRC and India, in the last four decades. He concludes that while PRC's reforms were swift and coordinated, India's investment and trade liberalization efforts coupled with its competitive capabilities in skill-intensive services may lead to a narrowing gap in trade performance between the two countries over time. He also suggests critical areas for future success of both countries: integrating with production networks, promoting technology development, managing real exchange rates, and mitigating the risk of protectionism. Read more.

OREI economist Satoru Yamadera will discuss the current and future activities of ABMF. ABMF operates under the ambit of ASEAN+3 and comprises bond market experts from the region. It was established in September 2010 as a common platform to foster standardization of market practices and harmonization of regulations relating to cross-border transactions in the region.

Harsha Vardhana Singh, Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization, will talk about the state of the Doha round, multilateralizing regionalism, and the evolution of the international trading system. With the WTO Doha Round trade talks approaching the 10-year mark and the increasing interest in regional trade agreements, the multilateral trading system and the WTO seem at a critical juncture. Confirm with Liza Cruz.

Regionalism in Africa has entailed the search for collective efforts to overcome political fragmentation and economic weaknesses. This study by Gilbert M. Khadiagala is a synoptic analysis of how African countries have constructed institutions for security and prosperity. These efforts are captured through actors and events animating African regionalism since independence. The author suggests that while regional integration remains critical in Africa, unresolved tensions between continental and sub-regional institutions have impeded the emergence of stable forms of regionalism.Read more.

Emerging Asia’s capital markets have shown great resilience over the past year, but the recent sharp sell-offs in response to economic uncertainty in the US and eurozone underscore the need for stronger policies to boost investor confidence and reduce excessive volatility. This year's issue of Asia Capital Markets Monitor (ACMM) assesses Asian markets' integration with the global market and capital flow volatility and offers policy recommendations.Read the report, highlights, and news release. Watch and listen. Mr. Azis talks about the 2011 ACMM in Bloomberg.