Lessons from the European Union’s Economic Integration for South Asian Regionalism

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-345
Author(s):  
Zahid Shahab Ahmed ◽  
Munir Hussain
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Economic Cooperation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Gradual Process ◽  
Asian Regionalism

South Asian regionalism—mainly represented by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)—has always been vulnerable to the influence of the long-standing bilateral disputes, and South Asian intra-regional trade and economic cooperation is limited. This article examines economic integration in Europe, from the 1950s to Britain’s decision to exit from the European Union (EU) in 2016, in order to identify possible lessons for the SAARC. In particular, this article makes use of Gürler’s model of economic integration to propose a way forward for economic cooperation through the SAARC. While the full implementation of the EU’s model of economic integration appears to be a distant reality for the SAARC, this article argues that a revitalized SAARC is nonetheless a suitable vehicle for pursuing a gradual process of economic cooperation in South Asia that may ultimately lead not only to economic integration but also the resolution of political disputes.

scholarly journals Regional Economic Integration in South Asia: The Way Forward

2004 ◽  
Vol 43 (4II) ◽  
pp. 959-974
Author(s):  
Musleh-ud Din ◽  
Shahbaz Nasir
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Economic Cooperation ◽  
Regional Economic Integration ◽  
The South ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Asian Economies

Like many developing economies, the South Asian countries are opening-up their economies with a view to accelerating their economic growth through greater trade and investment. In this context, attempts have also been made to encourage regional trade under the aegis of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). In particular, the South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) provides for reductions in tariffs and other restrictions on specific commodities on a reciprocal basis, and the eventual objective is to integrate the South Asian economies into a free trade area through SAFTA, which would come into force on January 1, 2006. However, despite greater attention on regional economic cooperation initiatives, there has been little progress in regional trade expansion: intra-regional trade continues to be minimal, not exceeding 5 percent of the total trade of the South Asian economies. This paper highlights the importance of regional economic integration in South Asia as elsewhere, spells out the factors which have so far hampered economic cooperation in the region, and outlines a future course of action to achieve greater economic integration in South Asia. Section 2 provides a broad perspective on regional economic integration with a particular focus on the need to foster greater economic cooperation in South Asia. Section 3 discusses the factors that have impeded intra-regional trade and economic ties within the region. Section 4 spells out measures to enhance economic cooperation in the SAARC region, while Section 5 concludes the discussion.

scholarly journals The Necessity of Regional Economic Integration: a Lesson for South Asia?

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
Md. Rajin Makhdum Khan ◽  
Faizah Imam
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Regional Economic Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The South ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Domestic Economies

ASEAN and the European Union have showed this world the privileges regional economic integration provides the states. Although Greece and Italy might be the torchbearers of criticism against regional cooperation and integration, these two organizations tend to be some prime examples of necessity of regional economic integration. This dissertation thus focuses on the privileges and advantages that regional economic integration system and organizations deliver to the states aligned within. With the possible and crucial criticisms on mind, the discussion moves forward analyzing if this system is making the countries perform better economically and advance towards domestic development. The dissertation further intends to find out why the South Asian nations might need similar kind of cooperation and why these countries should act more sensible to make the economic integration possible. While remarking the recommendations, the discussion also draws the barriers and the problems that this region might face in order to integrate their economies or enhance their trades. The core argument of this dissertation therefore lies in analyzing the importance of regional economic integration and liberal economics in this modern world and if the South Asian countries need economic integration to develop their domestic economies. The recommendations are to provide the possible ways to run the process and the drawbacks portion mentions the difficulties and barriers to be faced whilst all of these countries’ ongoing strict policies. The argument tries to find out the significance of liberal economics and tribulation of realism in the contemporary world.

scholarly journals Economic Implications of Deeper South Asian–Southeast Asian Integration: A CGE Approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 63-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ganeshan Wignaraja ◽  
Peter Morgan ◽  
Michael G. Plummer ◽  
Fan Zhai
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Computable General Equilibrium ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Computable General Equilibrium Model ◽  
Trade Costs ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Asian Integration

Using a computable general equilibrium model, this paper estimates the potential gains from deepening integration across South Asia and Southeast Asia. If the two regions succeed in dropping inter-regional tariffs, reducing non-tariff barriers by 50 percent, and decreasing inter-regional trade costs by 15 percent—which the paper suggests are ambitious but nevertheless attainable—welfare in South Asia and Southeast Asia would rise by 8.9 percent and 6.4 percent of GDP, respectively, by 2030. Hence, we conclude that deepening South Asian regional cooperation together with building links to Southeast Asia would pay off rich dividends.

What Does Gravity Model Reveal About SAFTA?

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-197
Author(s):  
Renu Verma ◽  
Jaidev Dubey
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
The South ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Multilateral Trade

During last decade, the stalemate in multilateral trade negotiations under the framework of World Trade Organization (WTO) regime has provided impetus to the signing of regional trade agreements world over .South Asia is not an exception to this trend and has been involved in setting up its own bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs). Most commonly cited cooperation agreements are Agreement on Trade and Commerce between India and Bhutan(1972), India-Nepal Bilateral Trade and Transit Treaties(1991), India–Sri Lanka Bilateral Free Trade Area(1998) Bangkok Agreement (1975),  Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIMST-EC-2004) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association of Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC-1997). One of  the most significant steps  towards regional economic cooperation in the history of South Asian countries, was taken with signing of The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) formed in 1985 with the objective of exploiting “accelerated economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region” for the welfare of the peoples of South Asia. And then seven South Asian countries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka—initiated a framework for region-wide integration under the South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) in 1995. In order to further cement the regional economic relations and overcome some impediments of SAPTA, the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) was signed in early 2004, which came into force on 1st July 2006. The SAFTA is a parallel initiative to the multilateral trade liberalization commitments of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries. SAFTA aims to reduce tariffs for intraregional trade among the seven SAARC member countries. It has been agreed that for the South Asian countries, Pakistan and India will eliminate all tariffs by 2012, Sri Lanka by 2013 and Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal by 2015. The current paper is an attempt in assessing the potential trade in the region with latest dataset  with Gravity model approach.

Impact of Free Trade on South Asia with Ref ere nee to India

2003 ◽  
Vol 38 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 39-53
Author(s):  
Amal Sarkar
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Economic Cooperation ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Parts

The world has witnessed formation of several regional economic cooperation in different parts of the world after the World War II The significant success in regional economic cooperation in different parts of the world has been reflected in formation of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 1985 among seven countries of South Asia, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In any regional economic cooperation, trade is a key component SAARC is not exception to this. In 1995, they have established South Asian Preferential Trade Area (SAPTA). The idea of economic interdependence within the South Asian region had gained importance after formation of SAPTA, in particular. In the 8th SAARC Summit in 1995, the member countries have decided to form South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) by the year 2005. Therefore, a quantitative economic analysis of any national economy within SAARC should allow its trade relation with member countries. In the present paper, we study the quantitative impact of duty free access to India s market for imports on SAARC countries.

scholarly journals Disincentive Factors for Transformation of the Economic Cooperation Organization to Regional Integration: An Assessment Regarding Intra-regional Trade

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamza Çeştepe ◽  
Tamer Güven
Keyword(s):  
Regional Integration ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Economic Cooperation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
The World ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Advanced Stages ◽  
Central Asia Region

In this study, the structure and level of intra-regional trade in Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which is a movement of regional cooperation founded in the Western and Central Asia region, has been analyzed. In ECO, with a share below its potential at the world trade, intra-regional trade is low relative to other regional integrations such as the European Union. However, the volume of intra-regional trade in the region countries, except a few countries, tend to increase in recent years. In this study, as a result of the evaluation made by the indices calculated, it was found that the region countries is in the position of more complementary economies in context of foreign trade; the countries has generally a high trade intensity with its neighbors; intra-industry trade in the region is at low level. As a result, although the level and structure of intra-regional trade in ECO region seems to be disincentive for the transformation to regional integration as of today, recent developments suggest that this obstacle will gradually diminish in the future. In addition, if some of advantages and potential of the region in terms of regional integration can be valued it does not seem very difficult to reach more advanced stages of integration for this cooperation movement.

Perception Survey of Asian Opinion Leaders

2017 ◽  
pp. 161-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradumna B. Rana ◽  
Wai-Mun Chia
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership ◽  
Perception Survey

This chapter presents the results of an online perception survey of South Asian and East Asian opinion leaders defined as representatives of the academia, government officials, business, and media. The objective of the survey was to assess the views of the stakeholders in SA and EA on the relative strengths of the key findings of the earlier chapters of the book. A sample of 5,300 respondents was selected and the survey was undertaken to assess the views of opinion leaders on findings and recommendations of the above chapters. Are the findings and recommendations robust? Among the questions asked were: What are the benefits and costs of SA/EA integration? What are the respective roles of market-led versus regional cooperation policies? Could SA/EA integration be an example of ‘open’ regionalism? What are the policies that SA should adopt under their LEP2 to link themselves with production networks in EA? What is the role of connectivity? What are the factors that have led to the revival of land connectivity or old South-western Silk Road in Asia? Should efforts to promote ASEAN–India connectivity be supported? Should the membership of East Asian institutions be expanded to cover South Asian countries or should South Asia establish its own institutions? In particular, should India be invited to join the various ASEAN+3 initiatives for financial cooperation? Should South Asian countries (other than India) be invited to join the negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership? Why is the level of economic integration in SA low and can SA–EA integration reinvigorate economic integration in South Asia?

scholarly journals Same Principles but Different Outcomes of SAARC and ASEAN: Searching Gap

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Razaul Karim
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Regional Organizations

This article shows that two regional organizations- the Association of South East Asian Nations and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation were established for regional cooperation and integration. Though both regional organizations’ principles, objectives have similarity but unfortunately, SAARC became an ineffective organization by failing to achieve its goal. Intra-regional trade of SAARC is significantly worse than other regions in the globe. This article tries to find out the reason behind the ineffectiveness of SAARC and concludes that India-Pakistan rivalry, India’s role with smaller countries and mutual mistrust among the nations of South Asia are the main causes that made SAARC an ineffective organization. On the contrary, ASEAN nations have practiced informal diplomacy to mitigate their bilateral disputes, decision making process- the ASEAN way, Indonesia’s positive role made ASEAN a successful organization. The article has also shown a comparative analysis between SAARC and ASEAN for identifying some good examples which SAARC countries could follow.

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