FTAs are proliferating in East Asia. This proliferation will become a foundation for the region's economic integration on the one hand, but will also lead to the ""spaghetti (or noodle) ball syndrome,"" due to a mixture of different rules such as rules of origin. In addition, the need for many...

The seven-nation Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand is emerging as one of the major subregional groups in Asia. Japan is the second largest trading partner for...