Asia Regional Integration Center

Based on a review of international and regional responses to the global financial and economic crisis and its implications for finance in Asia, Douglas Arner and Lotte Schou-Zibell draw lessons for Asian financial systems with regard to the scope of regulation; financial standards; supervision, regulation, and infrastructure; financial crises resolution; financial sector development; and strengthened regional financial architecture. They conclude with a discussion of challenges and policy options.  Read more.

The present day Pacific Island region hosts fourteen sovereign nations. Some of these nations comprise a few thousand people and thus constitute the smallest of sovereign nations around. In this paper, Satish Chand provides the history leading to the creation of these nation states and then charts the potential path to regional integration for them. It is argued that while international trade in goods and services do not constitute a strong motivation for regional integration, common concerns regarding climate change and security do.  Read more.

OREI's Ganeshan Wignaraja gave a keynote presentation on Business Participation in FTAs at a forum organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 14 October. Other keynote speakers include UK Ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Lillie, Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. Download the presentation.

This paper by David Cheong presents methods for evaluating the trade and welfare effects of an FTA after its establishment. The paper shows how to assess (i) the utilization and value of preferences, (ii) trade creation and diversion, and (iii) the FTA’s welfare effects using trade indicators and the gravity model. Countries such as Viet Nam, Indonesia, and Cambodia feature in the examples.  Read more. 

Hyun-Hoon Lee and Donghyun Park empirically assess the evolution of global imbalances since the 2008/09 GFC. The econometric analysis finds that "overinvestment" of most East Asian economies in the US remained substantial after the global crisis. Read more.

Local currency bond markets in emerging East Asia expanded by an annual 18.8% as of the end of June, with $4.8 trillion in paper outstanding. This large expansion was driven by 24.4% year-on-year growth in the corporate bond market, which has become an increasingly important source of funding for private sector investment. Strong offshore and onshore demand for emerging East Asia's local currency bonds has reduced the premiums paid on corporate debt over government benchmark bonds and contributed to a flattening in government bond yield curves.   Read the news release and highlights.  Download the report.

Developing Asia's robust recovery from the global crisis is gaining further momentum, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) says in its annual flagship economic publication Asian Development Outlook 2010 Update. Strong export recovery, robust private demand, and the sustained effects of stimulus policies allowed the region to experience solid growth in the first half of 2010. This improved performance is broad-based and is projected to carry on for the rest of the year. Read the news release and highlights. Download the report. 

Emerging East Asia remains at the core of global payment imbalances. While the People’s Republic of China accounts for a substantial share of the region’s current account   surplus, Asia’s contribution to global rebalancing also depends on how the NIEs and  larger ASEAN economies respond to the crisis. In this paper, Charles Adams, Hoe Yun Jeong, and Cyn-Young Park argue that regional rebalancing will depend critically on the adoption of deeper and more comprehensive structural reforms with further trade liberalization that promote domestic and regional spending. Read more.