Asia Regional Integration Center

Vangelis Vitalis, New Zealand’s Deputy High Commissioner to Australia, will talk about the rising trend of Asia-Pacific free trade agreements (FTAs), their implications on multilateralism in trade, and how these may provide a way of revitalizing global trade talks. Possible broad measures that can be taken to maximize the gains from regional FTAs will also be discussed. Reserve a seat with Liza Cruz.

On 17 May 2010, all ASEAN Member States have ratified the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) under the ASEAN Free Trade Area. The ATIGA focuses on tariff and non-tariff liberalisation measures concerning trade in goods and includes the implementation of rules of origin. It is expected that the cost of doing business in ASEAN will be lower and trade-related transactions simpler. The tariff reduction schedules also provide businesses with transparency and certainty in making business and investment decisions. ATIGA is in line with the achievement of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.  Read the official press release of the ASEAN Secretariat. Follow the ASEAN Free Trade Area on ARIC's website (resources include legal documents, studies and research, news, and more).

Asian capital markets deliver spectacular gains as the prospect of strong growth combined with the return of appetite for emerging-market assets brings a surge in capital inflows to emerging Asia once again, says this year's issue of ADB's Asia Capital Markets Monitor (ACMM). This issue reviews the recent performance in emerging Asia's stock, bond, and currency markets along with the outlook, risks, and policy implications of that performance. A special theme chapter is titled "Managing Capital Flows: Issues and Policy Challenges for Emerging Asia." Download report. Read the news release and highlights. Listen to podcast at ADB site.

In this paper, Donghyun Park and Mario Arturo Ruiz Estrada propose the regional integration evaluation (RIE) methodology which is based on four dimensions of development – economic, political, social and technological. The central idea behind the RIE methodology is that regional development promotes regional integration. This RIE methodology differs from the existing literature in that it is based on a more comprehensive definition of development than just economic development. This definition of a region’s development incorporates the development levels of all regional countries as well as differences in development levels among regional countries. They apply the RIE methodology to assess the integration prospects of NAFTA, ASEAN, MERCOSUR and EU. Read more.

Shinji Takagi suggests that a regional surveillance mechanism for East Asia must cover the operational requirements of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), and also respond to the region’s evolving need for a formal framework of policy dialogue and cooperation as economic integration deepens and macroeconomic interdependence strengthens. Read more.

ADB's annual flagship publication, the Asian Development Outlook 2010, sees developing Asia emerging from the recent crisis and posting a strong recovery in the next two years, as a moderate global recovery supports a modest revival in global trade. Investment is expected to remain strong and private consumption is anticipated to improve. Inflation will pick up, but at manageable levels. Beyond the crisis, developing Asia faces the challenge of adjusting its monetary, exchange rate, and fiscal policies to foster macroeconomic stability and sustained growth within the broader direction of a return to prudence and discipline. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of economic performance for the past year and offers forecasts for the next two years for the 45 Asian economies that make up developing Asia. Read the report, highlights, and news release.

In this paper, Cyn-Young Park, Ruperto Majuca, and Josef Yap investigate the post-crisis behavior of potential output in emerging East Asian economies by employing the Markov-switching model to account for structural breaks. Results show that after the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis, potential output in Hong Kong, China; the Republic of Korea (Korea); Singapore; and Malaysia reverted to levels consistent with trends prior to the crisis. Econometric estimates of a simple growth model show that the differences among the patterns of post-crisis recovery can be attributed to the investment-to-gross-domestic product (GDP) ratio; macroeconomic policies; exchange rate behavior; and productivity. These results can be used to guide policy in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. Read more.

A panel data consisting of 96 countries and covering the period 1960–2000 was used by Joseph D. Alba, Jung Hur and Donghyun Park to investigate the effects of free trade agreements (FTAs) and hub-and-spoke systems of FTAs on exports. Their empirical results indicate that in addition to the direct trade liberalizing effect of FTAs, the hub-and-spoke nature of FTAs has an additional positive effect on trade. Read more.