This paper traces the effects of the “East Asian Miracle,†the 1997–1998 Asian Crisis, the recovery, and the 2008–2009 global financial crisis on ASEAN countries. It also considers how ASEAN countries can sustain growth by leveraging production networks to...

This paper discusses trade facilitation in the context of enhancing trading links between South and Southeast Asia, in a manner understandable to the non-specialist. Presently, these two Asian regions tend to trade preferentially with distant markets. One of the reasons cited for the limited...

European economic integration fascinates and inspires for the way it brought peace to a continent torn by violent and long-standing rivalries. The lessons from Europe, however, cannot be applied directly as the degree of the European Union’s supranationality is unthinkable elsewhere. This...

The paper sets out what has been driving Chinese demand for resources and outlines the main features of the growth of Chinese resource consumption. It explains the impact of Chinese growth on the Australian economy and examines the future of Chinese resource demand. It reviews the potential to...

This article analyses the motivation and impact of the 2009 intervention of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) in benchmark price negotiations. The impact of the transition from benchmark pricing to a spot market mechanism, which was a consequence of the CISA’s intervention, is...

The paper briefly sets out factors behind Chinese demand for iron ore imports and the main features of China’s medium term resource consumption growth path. It then outlines the potential of major iron ore export countries to meet China’s medium term iron ore import demands. The...

This paper considers emerging commercial policy challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region in light of the impasse reached at the Eighth World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Meeting in December 2011. It underscores that, while marginal liberalization of trade barriers under the Doha...

This paper considers how exchange rates affect East Asian trade. The evidence indicates that exports produced within regional production networks depend on exchange rates throughout the region while labor-intensive exports depend on exchange rates in the exporting country. These results make...

It is logical to argue that growth led by low-carbon goods and services (LCGS) is an imperative for the countries of Asia and the Pacific, and particularly for emerging Asian economies, which are heavily dependent on imported energy and resources. Acknowledging this fact, individual governments...

In this paper we examine the changing nature of Japan’s commercial policy over the last 25 years while reviewing Japan’s changing structure of trade, FDI and economy that underlay policy changes. We argue that until the late 1990s Japan adopted a two-track approach of relying on...