Thinking Globally, Acting Regionally:
Asian Economic Integration
4 May 2006 (5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.)
Over the past decade, a growing awareness of the importance of regionalism in
managing the challenges of globalization has led to stronger regional economic cooperation
and integration initiatives in Asia. Progress has been made by the region in the
areas of trade, investment, money and finance, and regional infrastructure.
While economic cooperation initiatives have been mainly bilateral and subregional,
links are starting to be built across subregions, and Asia as a whole is starting to
integrate. Subregionalism is beginning to be the stepping stone for Asian regionalism.
As a regional development bank, ADB has a unique mandate to play a proactive
role as a catalyst and coordinator for regional cooperation and integration in Asia. At
the request of member countries, ADB has actively supported a number of regional
cooperation initiatives. This seminar will focus mainly on regional integration in the
areas of trade, investment, money, and finance. ADB has actively supported different
regional monetary and financial cooperation agreements, including the ASEAN+3 Finance
Ministers Process. Since the establishment of ASEAN+3 in 1999, ADB has provided
considerable support for its efforts, including the ASEAN+3 economic review
and policy dialogue, the Chiang Mai initiative, and the Asian bonds markets initiative.
These have contributed to financial market deepening, promotion of bond markets,
and mobilization for long-term investment in the region.
The seminar will have senior level speakers who will address the following challenges
facing Asia’s efforts toward economic integration.
- How far should Asia go in its efforts towards regional economic integration?
Should the ultimate objective (say, over the next quarter century) be the
adoption of a single currency, as in Europe?
Should Asia’s economic integration be modeled on the North American Free
Trade Area (NAFTA), i.e., far short of adopting a single currency but
creating a giant free trade area?
Should Asia produce its own model of economic integration, threading
together some elements of both the European and North American models
and adding new ones of its own?
What are the key constraints to achieving an economically integrated Asia,
whatever the final form such integration may take?
What are the likely effects of Asian regionalism on the rest of the world and
how can Asia make its regional integration process a building block, rather
than a stumbling block, to the globalization process?
The seminar will be of interest to a wide audience including government officials,
academics, investors, and other multilateral institutions.
Read the News Release.
For further information, contact Mr. Srinivasa Madhur, tel: (63-2) 632-6239, email:smadhur@adb.org
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