Asia Regional Integration Center
Tracking Asian Integration
27Nov2017ADB is holding its Regional Cooperation and Integration Week 2017 in Manila. Highlights include a roundtable conference on economic corridors (27 November) and presentations on emerging RCI issues (28 November).
21Nov2017Against the backdrop of booming equity markets and central banks' lax monetary and credit policies, Jong Woo Kang, ARIC's Project Leader and ADB's Principal Economist, reiterates Asia's need to keep its economic fundamentals in check against the possible risks lurking behind current robust global financial activity.
13Nov2017Jong Woo Kang, ARIC's Project Leader and ADB's Principal Economist, writes about Asia's recent strong trade performance after 2 years of sluggish growth, and identifies factors that policymakers could bank on to make the region sustain its trade dynamism.
17Oct2017The ADB's Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department is organizing a two-day international conference to be held at Manila, Philippines on 14–15 December 2017. See event page for details.
25Oct2017The Asian Economic Integration Report (AEIR) 2017 is the annual report on Asia's progress in regional cooperation and integration (RCI) of ADB. This year's AEIR special theme chapter is on financial interconnectedness and resilience. The report introduces an RCI composite index to help monitor and evaluate RCI progress in the region. Read highlights and news release. Download report here.
25Oct2017The Asian Economic Integration Report (AEIR) 2017 was launched at the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. Dr. Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB Chief Economist, talked about Asia’s improved financial interconnectedness and resilience and introduced an RCI composite index to track RCI progress in the region. Watch video here.
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3 ways Asian economies can prepare for a financial market downturn
On the one hand, the global economy is enjoying a robust and synchronized recovery. On the other hand, however, central banks are maintaining an extremely cautious stance on acting on this and switching gears back to the normal policy level.
Seizing the opportunity to prolong Asia’s trade growth momentum
The global trade slowdown of 2015-2016 had several causes. The first and main one is the weak global economic recovery. Yes, the global economy has been in an expansion phase. And yes, we are seeing sustained and synchronized global economic growth both in rich and emerging economies.
Regional Public Goods: A breath of fresh air
Hold your breath for the bad news: air pollution imperils Asia and the Pacific. Rapid carbon-intensive growth puts the region in a precarious position, where 4 of the 10 biggest polluters and 5 of the 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change reside together. The biggest polluters also happen to be the most productive in the region.
What we learned about foreign direct investment in Asia (Part I)
The policy regime as reflected by the business environment appears to help attract FDI, particularly greenfield investments, especially for economies with low scores for governance. This does not mean, however, that improving the business environment can substitute for governance reforms.
Benefits of good governance outweigh the costs
Good governance is too broad a concept to be covered under a single political system in any country. But the crucial factor underpinning effective governance is where the decision-making authority lies, and how it is exercised. Authority should be accompanied by accountability and responsibility, without which good governance cannot be enshrined into any system.
Revisiting FDI and the international trade nexus
Recent improvement in global economic outlook, largely due to better growth prospects in major economies and increase in trade flows, can be a boon for FDI. But as some countries pursue more inward looking economic policies, how would this bear on the link between international trade and investment?