Regional Trade Cooperation Among Asian Countries (Trends Towards Regional Trade Cooperation)

The group of Asian countries which are discussed in this paper covers a region which is generally known as South, Southeast and East Asia, and may be conveniently referred to as the ECAFE region, since it falls within the area covered by the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East. The developments in Southeast Asian countries are discussed in more detail than those in the rest of the region. Recent trends towards trade cooperation among the Southeast Asian group of countries are a striking contrast to the autarkic policies pursued, during the greater part of the ‘fifties’ by most of the newly independent countries of the region. A consequence of such policies is the fragmentation of trading areas, and this has tended to reduce the scope and volume of intra-regional trade and to restrict the size of markets for each country’s exports.