Despite remarkable growth during the last decade, Asia and the Pacific still faces extensive basic infrastructure needs. Furthermore, to cope up with the reduced export demand from advanced economies arising out of the ongoing financial crisis, the region needs to enhance its connectivity...

In recent years, South Asia has received growing attention as a region that is integrating successfully into the global economy. To maximize the benefits in terms of faster growth and poverty reduction, the region will need to strengthen regional and bilateral cooperation in several areas. In...

Open regionalism and trade cooperation between the world's two largest developing countries, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and India, can foster outward-oriented development and intra-regional trade based on comparative advantage and available factor endowments. In view of the recent wave...

The 1997 Asian financial crisis has revealed the limitations of the current state of monetary and financial monitoring system in most Asian countries in comprehensively addressing financial and monetary problems and issues. This paper attempts to propose a macro-prudential indicators (MPI)...

Until the 13th century, the ancient Silk Route of Asia was the world's most important cross-border artery, at a time when Asia was a major trade and economic center of the world. The Silk Road refers to an extensive pan-Asia interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent...

In recent decades, Southeast Asian economies have prospered through an outward-oriented strategy, through intra-regional integration under the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) initiative and through participating in the East Asian production networks. In the 1970-80´s, South...

In last few decades, Asian production networks have contributed significantly toward the rapid trade expansion and economic growth in East Asia. Developed Asia produces technology-intensive intermediate goods and capital goods and ships them to the People Republic of China (PRC) and ASEAN for...

High income growth in many countries in East Asia and the Middle East has been accompanied by increasing income inequality and widening gaps between rich and poor, and urban and rural. It is therefore it is important to examine the interrelationships between inequality and economic growth. This...

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...

This paper proposes a macro-prudential financial soundness analysis that can be used by most developing and transformation countries with or without crisis experience as well as by developed countries with limited data. The objective is to detect economic and financial sector vulnerability,...