On the Road to Southern Cone Economic Integration

2000 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Cason
Keyword(s):  
Economic Integration ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Behavior Pattern ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Southern Cone ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
The Road ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
On The Road

The integration process as developed in MERCOSUR has been largely a success, albeit led (and often aggravated) by Brazil. Three cases illustrate Brazil’s dominant role: the dispute over the automobile regime that began in 1995, the import-financing conflict of 1997, and the recent negotiations over the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Brazil’s behavior pattern does not threaten MERCOSUR’s stability, however, or the all-but-irreversible progress of regional integration.

scholarly journals Regional Integration in the Horn of Africa: Some Findings

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Binyam Yitay ◽  
Tsoaledi Thobejane
Keyword(s):  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Security Threats ◽  
Horn Of Africa ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
Informal Trade ◽  
The Road ◽  
Trade Area

In the Horn of Africa there is a regional bloc that comprises eight countries namely Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda. The appellation of the organisation is called IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development). It was established in 1986, yet it could not bring a desired result. Even the least form of integration i.e. Free Trade Area (FTA) could not achieve. So that this paper will probe the challenges associated with the regional integration agenda of IGAD. This paper is an excerpt from a study conducted by the author regarding IGAD. Thus the paper will present the findings of the said study. The study used qualitative approach for data collection. Interview with IGAD officers has been conducted to know the cause for the failure of IGAD’s integration process. IGAD lacks both financial and human capacity to fulfil its objectives, absence of regional institutions (such as Bank of IGAD) worsen the situation, emerging and subsequent security threats such as terrorism, pastoral conflict, tense relationship among member states, undermining of the informal trade remains the road block of regional integration.

scholarly journals Impact of the Enlargement of the European Union on the Foreign Trade and Development of the New Members

ECONOMICS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51
Author(s):  
Milenko Krajišnik ◽  
Aleksandra Žutić
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Trade ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regional Economic ◽  
New Members ◽  
Trade Area

SummaryOne of the most important characteristics of the process of globalization is the creation of different regional economic integrations. The most developed regional economic integration in the world is the European Union. Since it was found, when six founder countries created the free trade area for coal and steel, European Union passed all the phases of development of the economic integration, through the customs union and common market to the economic and monetary union. Through the six waves of enlargement European Union has become the integration of 28 countries with over 500 million habitants. Every enlargement of this regional integration had an impact on the economic position and the development of both the old and the new members. The biggest increase in the number of members brought the 5th big enlargement of the European Union, when the number of the member countries increased in total for 12 countries, first for 10, and then for 2 more.The effects of this enlargement on former soviet countries are specially interesting not only because of the number of the new members, but also because of the fact that these countries during the joining have also pass the process of the transition to the market economy.The aim of this work is to examine the effects of the enlargement on the foreign trade of the new members, and the effects of the changes in foreign trade on the economic development of these countries. The analysis of the effects of joining the European Union could be interesting for the countries which strive to become members of this economic regional integration.

Geo-Economic Competition in Latin America: Brazil, Venezuela, and Regional Integration in the 21st Century

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilherme Casarões
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Competition ◽  
Integration Model ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
The Us ◽  
New Institutions

The institutional framework of Latin American integration saw a period of intense transformation in the 2000s, with the death of the ambitious project of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), spearheaded by the United States, and the birth of two new institutions, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). This article offers a historical reconstruction of regional integration structures in the 2000s, with emphasis on the fault lines between Brazil, Venezuela and the US, and how they have shaped the institutional order across the hemisphere. We argue that the shaping of UNASUR and CELAC, launched respectively in 2007 and 2010, is the outcome of three complex processes: (1) Brazil’s struggle to strengthen Mercosur by acting more decisively as a regional paymaster; (2) Washington’s selective engagement with some key regional players, notably Colombia, and (3) Venezuela’s construction of an alternative integration model through the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA) and oil diplomacy. If UNASUR corresponded to Brazil’s strategy to neutralize the growing role of Caracas in South America and to break apart the emerging alliance between Venezuela, Argentina, and Bolivia, CELAC was at the same time a means to keep the US away from regional decisions, and to weaken the Caracas-Havana axis that sustained ALBA.

scholarly journals MOVIMIENTOS SOCIALES E INTEGRACIÓN REGIONAL: EL CASO DE LA ARTICULACIÓN DE MOVIMIENTOS SOCIALES HACIA EL ALBA

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (16) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karla Díaz Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Entity ◽  
The Us ◽  
America Latina ◽  
Movimientos Sociales

El ALBA es un espacio de integración regional, alternativo al alca propuesto por EEUU, que inaugura una etapa denominada regionalismo posneoliberal. El ALBA desde sus orígenes ha contado con el acompañamiento de movimientos sociales de carácter antiimperialista y antineoliberal. La propia organización generó una instancia social: el Consejo de Movimientos Sociales; sin embargo, los movimientos sociales han generado de forma paralela y autónoma la Articulación de Movimientos Sociales hacia el ALBA. Este trabajo da cuenta de las características de este espacio de articulación social, a partir de propuestas teóricas pensadas en América Latina, y presenta un balance de las potencialidades y los desafíos de los movimientos sociales en el escenario latinoamericano y su influencia en la integración regional.   SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION: THE ARTICULATION OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS TOWARD ALBAABSTRACTALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas) is a regional integration entity created as an alternative to the US-proposed FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas, ALCA in Spanish). ALBA inaugurates a period that has been referred to as post-neoliberal regionalism. Since its origin, ALBA has been accompanied by social movements with an anti-imperialistic and anti-neoliberal stance. ALBA, itself, generated a social entity: the Social Movements Council. However, in a parallel and autonomous way, the social movements created the Articulation of Social Movements toward ALBA. This article describes the characteristics of this entity for social articulation based on theoretical proposals developed in Latin America, and presents a balance of the potentialities and challenges of social movements in Latin America and their incidence in regional integration.

scholarly journals The ASEAN WITHOUT A CUSTOMS UNION OR A SINGLE MARKET CONSEQUENCES OF THE ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY BLUEPRINT 2025

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-127
Author(s):  
Moh Firstananto Jerusalem
Keyword(s):  
Economic Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Single Market ◽  
Integration Theory ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Market Economic ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
Asean Economic Community

Abstract In the ASEAN Economic Community blueprint 2015 the term “single market” was used as a goal of economic community. Theoretically, single market is a level of economic integration after customs union. Under that blueprint, customs union could have a chance to be established as a necessary prerequisite for single market. However, the new blueprint 2025 does not adopt single market concept anymore. Different terms have been introduced namely “integrated and cohesive economy” and “unified market”. This article aims at assessing economic integration concept adopted in the ASEAN Economic Community blueprint by utilizing content analysis. It will review the change of concept by employing economic integration theory in order to indicate the direction of economic community goal. The finding is that the change of terms reflects the change of concept. As a result, ASEAN Economic Community will have a different direction in pursuing economic integration. Therefore, under the new blueprint ASEAN will not proceed to customs union and single market. However, it will remain at free trade area level of economic integration. In addition, ASEAN will not be a close trade block but tend to be an open regionalism in relation to non-ASEAN countries or regions. Keywords: ASEAN Economic Community, Customs Union, Single Market, Economic Integration, Open Regionalism.

scholarly journals Trade and Growth

2021 ◽  
pp. 249-277
Author(s):  
Jakkie Cilliers
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Growth Increase ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
History Of

AbstractCilliers starts by exploring the modern history of international trade and the importance of trade to economic growth and global cooperation. The chapter then provides an overview of Africa’s trading partners, the need for greater regional integration in the continent and the challenges to achieving intra-regional cooperation. It examines the need to improve the quality of governance, bridge the infrastructure deficit and eventually focus on a manufacturing-led growth path. Reducing both tariff and non-tariff barriers could facilitate the successful implementation of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), induce economic growth, increase per capita incomes and reduce poverty. A penultimate section models the potential impact of the AfCFTA on growth, poverty reduction and increased average incomes.

Integration Potential of Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-81
Author(s):  
E. Arapova
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Economic Integration ◽  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Hierarchical Cluster ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Asian Regionalism

During the 2014 APEC summit the participating countries agreed to move towards a region-wide economic integration and approved China-backed roadmap to promote the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). The paper examines prospects for economic integration in the Asia-Pacific in the framework of 21 APEC participating members. It aims to measure the “integration potential” of the FTAAP on the basis of quantitative and qualitative analysis of the actual statistic data, to explore key obstacles hampering economic integration in the region. The research comes from the theory of convergence and concept of proximity. They suppose that the higher is the degree of homogeneity in economic development and regulatory regimes of the integrating countries the higher is their “integration potential”. The objective of the author’s analysis is to measure the “integration potential” of APEC countries in four directions: trade liberalization, free movement of investments, monetary and banking integration, free division of labor. Initial estimates of the FTAAP prospects base on the merchandize trade complementarity indices and coefficients of variation analysis. Besides, the research uses hierarchical cluster analysis that helps to classify countries in different groups according to similarity of their economic typologies. This methodology allows to reveal the favorable algorithm of regional economic integration in the framework of the “hybrid approach” (or “open regionalism” adopted for APEC countries in 1989) which encourages the countries to enter into free trade agreements on a bilateral basis or to make offers to the APEC membership as a whole. Final conclusions are based on the results of authors’ calculations with consideration for contemporary trends of the member countries’ economic development and long-term strategies of economic growth. Acknowledgements. The research was supported by the Russian Fund for Humanities, project no. 15-07-00026 “East Asian regionalism in the context of diversifi cation of economic growth model”.

Towards Macro-Economic Convergence in SACU: The Position of Botswana

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mabutho Shangase
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
Economic Convergence ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Recent Developments

In light of recent developments such as the African Continental African Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA), incrementalist approaches to regional inte gration that focus on sub-regions seems to have been pushed to the backburner as more focus puts the entire African continent at the centre of integration processes. With all its potential, gradual macro-economic convergence has accordingly been neglected. Discussions on macro-economic convergence have on the other hand been cast over the broader sub-region such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) where a number of indicators and targets have been identified and pursued closely. Whilst looking at Botswana as a point of departure, this paper argues that incremental macro-economic convergence is pivotal to broader regional integration and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) provides an ideal stepping-stone. An incrementalist approach to macro-economic convergence as well as broader regional integration should begin with identifying key formal institutions that serve as custodians of macro-economic policy such as the central banks and departments of finance or treasuries. Using secondary data sources, with Botswana as a case study, this paper foregrounds macro-economic convergence, macro-economic policy making institutions, and SACU as critical building blocks for broader regional integration.

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