Executive Education Programs

In 1997-98 many of the star economies of the “East Asian Miracle” were in the midst of a devastating “Asian Crisis”. There were strong suggestions that the Crisis laid bare structural weaknesses such as corruption and cronyism that would condemn the countries of the region to years of lost growth. What a difference 10 years make. Today the performance and growing importance of a recovered East Asia  is well documented; its dynamism reflected in its economic growth, international trade and investment, and financial resources.  East Asia is playing an increasingly central role as a growth pole in the global economy.

It is East Asia with a difference. Although China is an important part of the story, the on-going transformation of the region goes deeper. It is a story of increasing regional integration and cooperation and its impact on East Asia’s growth and development. Financial and monetary cooperation has accelerated in the past 10 years, driven to an important extent by the experience of the Asian Crisis. Its focus is on regional economic surveillance; liquidity support facility; and development of an Asian bond market. Regional trade initiatives involve a wide range of bilateral and plurilateral  Free Trade Agreements (FTA), spurred by a stalled multilateral trade system, and a desire on the part of East Asian economies for more extensive economic linkages. However, it is production-related integration – the emergence of regional production networks – that is responsible to a large extent for the region’s growth, development and restructuring. Multinational enterprises from outside the region are key participants in this production-related integration process; and final products that are the output of regional production networks continue to go primarily to international markets, particularly the US and EU. Therefore there is a close and mutually supportive relationship between de facto intra-regional economic integration in East Asia, and the evolution and growth of the global economy.

It is in the interest of “Asia” and “the West” to ensure that East Asian integration unfolds in a globally cooperative manner. The issue is not one of “exclusive” or “inclusive” East Asia (with or without the US or EU), any more than it is a question of an “exclusive” or “inclusive” NAFTA or EU (with or without East Asia). The challenge that goes beyond East Asia is one of building cooperative regionalism, consistent with an open and expanding global economy. From this perspective, East Asian regional cooperation and integration is still a work in progress.