Regionalism in the Asia-Pacific region: how wide, how deep?

Abstract

The Asia Pacific region was characterized in the second half of the twentieth century by an absence of regional trading arrangements. The situations changed after 2000, raising questions of sequencing and of the boundaries of the region. This paper argues that the proliferation of regional and bilateral agreements has been driven by the rapid emergence of regional value chains and centres on trade facilitation measures. These create deep regionalism and variable boundaries, depending upon which countries integrate into the regional value chains.