Free trade agreements (FTAs) have proliferated in East Asia in recent years. As of December 2008, eight bilateral FTAs and one plurilateral FTA involving Japan have entered into force; additional negotiations are ongoing with several more countries. The proliferation of FTAs in Japan and other...

Turkey's laws regulating foreign investment were radically altered during its last two Five Year Plans. The purpose behind these changes was to move away from a policy of import substitution and centralized control, effected by strict customs barriers and bureaucratic regulations which...

This paper seeks to examine how locking-in of Pakistans unilateral liberalization at the WTO/GATS and further liberalization of services trade would affect Pakistans competitiveness. Focusing on the opportunities and risks of such liberalization the paper discusses possible options regarding the...

This chapter argues that China’s attitude to multilateralism and responsibility in global economic governance is questionable or unclear. China poses a major challenge to the world economy by virtue of being a new global economic superpower. For the past decade, its position as a strong player...

Energy security is a burning issue in a world where 1.4 billion people still have no access to electricity. This pioneering book is about finding solutions for energy security through the international trading system. Focusing mainly on the European Union (EU) as a case study, this holistic and...

Frustrated with lackluster momentum in the WTO Doha Round and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and mindful of free trade agreement (FTA) networks centered on the United States and Europe, Asian countries have joined the FTA game. By 2000, Asian countries had ratified 10...

Frustrated with lackluster momentum in the WTO Doha Round and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and mindful of free trade agreement (FTA) networks centered on the United States and Europe, Asian countries have joined the FTA game. By 2005, Asian countries (excluding China) had...

East Asia is a region of great global significance, currently accounting for around 30% of the global economy by most measures, e.g. production, trade, investment and finance. It has also become increasingly integrated in various ways. Integration at the micro-level has steadily progressed since...

Trade is one of the important aspects of economic policy in the contexts of the third wave of regionalism. It is proven by growing number of trading agreement between regions and what goes after, expansion of positive aspects of economic cooperation. The aim of this article is to describe...

This paper provides an empirical assessment of race-to-the-bottom unilateralism. It suggests that decades of unilateral tariff cutting in Asia's emerging economies have been driven by a competition to attract FDI from Japan. Using spatial econometrics, I show that tariffs on parts and...