Asia Regional Integration Center

A reform in the global reserve system is critical to avoid a repeat of the recent global economic crisis and Asia's fast recovering countries need to cooperate to ensure a smooth transition to a multi-currency alternative, says a new report from the Asian Development Bank and Columbia University's Earth Institute. The report, The Future Global Reserve System - An Asian Perspective, says that while the US dollar will remain the leading currency of international exchange for now, a rebalancing in the global economy means that in the future, a wider range of currencies will need to be used to settle trade and investment. Read the press release. Download the report or read it online.

Robert Teh, Counsellor at the World Trade Organization (WTO), will discuss the role of the WTO in the current state of the Doha Round amid rising regionalism and the challenges it poses to the international trading system. He will present arguments why despite the difficulties encountered in concluding the round and the rise of regionalism, the WTO will remain indispensable for managing the many challenges that confront the international trading system. Confirm participation with Liza Cruz.

In this paper, David Cheong discusses three methods—trade indicators, Software for Market Analysis and Restrictions on Trade (SMART) in World Integrated Trade Solutions (WITS), and the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model—for evaluating the potential economic effects of free trade agreements (FTA). For each method, the author identifies aspects of a FTA that can be evaluated, describes the data sources and software requirements, interprets the output results, and discusses the strengths and limitations. As illustrations, the methods are applied to Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam. Download the paper.

As an integral part of ADB's Regional Cooperation and Integration Strategy adopted in 2006, the Office of Regional Economic Integration is conducting the ADB Trade and Investment Integration Course under RETA 6497: Capacity Building on Regional Trade Integration and Facilitation (financed by the Japan Special Fund). The Course is on 21-25 June 2010 at the Discovery Suites, Manila, Philippines.  The participants are government officials of developing member countries in Asia and the Pacific who are involved in trade policies. For inquiries, contact the Course Director, Shintaro Hamanaka.

Amidst the stalled Doha global trade talks, free trade agreements in economically important Asia are increasingly becoming a significant trade policy instrument - with nearly 50 free trade agreements in effect today and many more in the pipeline. The session, Business Responses to Free Trade Agreements in Asia will review recent trends in the proliferation of FTAs, their impact on business, and highlight Asia's particular interest in cross-regional trade agreements involving North America and Canada, as well as the European Union. This event is organized by ADB and ADBI. Read more.

Masahiro Kawai and Ganeshan Wignaraja discuss the proliferation of FTAs in East Asia—45 FTAs have been adopted over the last decade, with the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea taking the lead. The brief also examines the varieties of national FTA strategies in Northeast and Southeast Asia and analyzes information on FTA use, impediments, and rules of origin. Finally, it explores a possible way forward, with the formation of a region-wide FTA seen as a way to achieve a deep WTO Doha trade deal.Download the policy brief on FTAs in East Asia. This paper was presented at the International Economic Forum of the Americas - Conference of Montreal on 9 June 2010.

In this paper, Peter Warr, Jayant Menon, and Arief Anshory Yusuf explore the poverty impact of government expenditures associated with the Nam Theun II hydroelectric dam project—the largest of several hydroelectric dam projects in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Using a multi-sector/multi-household general equilibrium model of the economy, the authors find that poverty incidence declines under the entire range of distributional assumptions considered in the analysis. Nevertheless, the degree of rural-bias of expenditures is critical, with the most regressive of the pro-rural distributions reducing poverty incidence by seven times that of the most progressive of pro-urban distributions. Read more.

ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda inaugurated on 25 May a 75-kilometer railway linking Afghanistan to Uzbekistan’s expansive rail network, and to regional networks in Asia and Europe.  The rail link is being constructed from a $165 million ADB grant and is set to be completed by the end of this year. In his remarks at an official luncheon, Mr. Kuroda said that the rail line is a hallmark of the 8-member Central Asia Regional Economic Program (CAREC). Read the news release.  Follow CAREC on ARIC website (resources include studies and research, news, agreements, and more).