This report assesses how to finance an extensive overhaul of transport infrastructure in the BIMSTEC subregion, considers the challenges of public and private financing, and outlines how to create an overarching financial framework. Underscoring why strong transport connectivity is critical to regional integration, the report highlights how economic and financial analyses can help fund key economic corridors and transport projects in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. It analyzes a plan for over 200 projects and sets out ways to boost public-private partnerships, develop capital markets, and establish a regional fund to help close the financing gap.

The Master Plan presents a comprehensive 10-year strategy and action plan for improving the subregion’s transport linkages across the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) member states. It is intended to guide actions and promote synergies among various connectivity frameworks and help achieve sustainable development of the region. A specific framework is presented here for organizing a set of policies, strategies, and projects toward realizing a shared vision of peace, prosperity, and sustainability. With BIMSTEC’s unique geographical position as a bridge linking South and Southeast Asia, this document is also relevant to its neighboring regions. BIMSTEC was established as a regional organization in June 1997 to promote free trade within the region, increase cross-border investment and tourism, and promote technical cooperation.

This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of South Asian foreign policy, examining the complex history and present state of South Asian foreign policy, the foreign policy of the countries of the region, as well as their relationships with their neighbors and key external players, such as China and the United States, in an effort to understand South Asia’s place in the world order. It illustrates the future trajectory of foreign policy in the region and analyses future of regional arrangements like SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and BIMSTEC. The handbook is structured in five parts, each representing a focused area of enquiry: Foreign Policy Relations within South Asia Relations within Indo-Pacific Relations with China, Europe and the United States Security A carefully selected collection of 26 chapters written by experts on South Asian foreign, economic, and security policy, this handbook provides an objective yet accessible overview of the history and current state of foreign policy of each country and the region. It is an authoritative reference work for academics and students as well as international think tanks, research institutes, and non-governmental organizations working on South Asian Politics, Asian Politics, Foreign Politics, International Affairs, World History, and International Relations.

This report explores how economic forces are affecting cross-border flows of goods and services and the movement of people in Asia and the Pacific. It looks at the extent to which various challenges are prompting deeper economic links. This year’s theme chapter focuses on decarbonizing global value chains, exploring how policymakers can minimize emissions while maximizing the economic advantages of global production networks. It evaluates the impact of initiatives like the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism for Asian subregions, suggesting the use of carbon pricing, accounting mechanisms for embedded emissions, increased trade cooperation, upgraded technology, and international cooperation for technology transfer to reduce CO2 emissions.

Edited Conference Proceedings Volume I

This report shows how smart trade and investment policies, and regulatory cooperation in the Asia and Pacific region can help economies tackle climate change, recover from the pandemic, and support resilient and sustainable development. Analyzing topics including global value chains, investment, the movement of people, and regional cooperation initiatives, it outlines the economic and environmental challenges the region currently faces. It explores how trade and investment policies can support climate action and highlights why a joined-up approach is essential to help deepen the digital economy, strengthen supply chains and foster greener businesses, markets, and trade.

This book discusses wide topics related to current issues in economic growth and development, international trade, macroeconomic and financial stability, inflation, monetary policy, banking, productivity, agriculture and food security. It is a collection of seventeen research papers selected based on their quality in terms of contemporary topic, newness in the methodology, and themes. All selected papers have followed an empirical approach to address research issues, and are segregated in five parts. Part one covers papers related to fiscal and price stability, monetary policy and economic growth. The second part contains works related to financial integration, capital market volatility and macroeconomic stability. Third part deals with issues related to international trade and economic growth. Part four covers topics related to productivity and firm performance. The final part discusses issues related to agriculture and food security. The book would be of interest to researchers, academicians as a ready reference on current issues in economics and finance.

This book focuses on emerging new multilateralism in the Indo-Pacific and offers a useful analysis of various existing and evolving formulations and alignments in the region. The book problematises the evolution, relevance and changing contours of emerging economic and security architectures and connects these to various unilateral and multilateral initiatives that undergird the overall transformation in these economic and strategic multilaterals in this region. The chapters offer a comprehensive overview of organisations and institutions, and the contributors provide their historical background and contemporary focus with implications for the future. Consequently, the book provides a balanced assessment of evolving trends elucidated by both its theoretical debates and empirical analyses. It assesses the outline and influence of non-traditional threats that have received only stand-alone, and not integrated, examination involving issues as climate change, piracy, smuggling and terrorist activity, triggering a whole gamut of humanitarian and disaster relief strategies. Comprehensive in analysis and approach, the book will be of interest to scholars of Political Science, Foreign Policy, Security Studies, International Relations, International Political Economy and Area Studies, including Asian, East Asian or Indo-Pacific Studies.

This study examines major challenges and issues associated with developing regional infrastructure through the fostering of regional cooperation in Asia, and provides a framework for pan-Asian infrastructure cooperation. The study's long-term vision is the creation of a seamless Asia (an integrated region connected by world-class, environmentally friendly infrastructure) in terms of both "hard" (physical) and "soft" (facilitating) infrastructure. The soft part supports the development and operation of the hard component. Findings indicate that the benefits of upgrading and extending Asia's infrastructure networks are substantial, and that all countries in the region would benefit. A logistics network is only as good as its weakest link; each country in a regional supply chain gains from infrastructure improvements made in others. Improving connectivity in the region would bring Asia large welfare gains through increased market access, reduced trade costs, and more efficient energy production and use. According to the study, to achieve this Asia needs to invest approximately $8 trillion in overall national infrastructure between 2010 and 2020. In addition, Asia needs to spend approximately $290 billion on specific regional infrastructure projects in transport and energy that are already in the pipeline