Regional Cooperation (Sub-regional Programs)

Social Development

By sharing information and best practice experiences, countries can advance social development goals common to the region. They can also take advantage of economies of scale through collaboration.

Health - As regional and global integration accelerates, the cross-border transmission of diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS also increases. By sharing resources to monitor and respond to outbreaks of these diseases, countries can prevent their spread, and a region's overall health can improve.

Education - It is often not feasible financially for countries to host their own institutions, particularly in very specific fields of learning. Regional cooperation can promote and support networks of advanced learning centers that serve as a resource for an entire region. In the Asia Pacific region, successful examples include the International Rice Research Institute and Asian Institute of Management in the Philippines, the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, and the University of the South Pacific in Fiji.

Social Protection - In Asia, which houses half the world's population and about 900 million poor, effective social protection policies and programs are vital to protect the very large numbers of vulnerable people. Regional cooperation can be an important instrument for bringing countries together to share experiences in their efforts to

• promote efficient and effective labor markets
• reduce peoples' exposure to risks
• protect children
• provide cost-effective welfare programs, or social "safety nets"