Integration processes in the countries of the Asian-Pacific region Essay

Integration processes in the countries of the Asian-Pacific region under the conditions of the globalization intensification - Essay Example The paper illustrates the increasing role of the countries of the Asian-Pacific region in the world economy in terms of GDP, trade volumes and capital flows. The impact of the globalization on Asian countries is under the consideration. States in the region have become increasingly interdependent and regionalism is perceived as a stage for further multilateral trade liberalization. Regionalism is divided into two categories. One is discriminatory in that there is free trade among the members of the region but the non members are excluded. These include customs unions and the other are preferential trading areas. The other one is compatible to the most favored rule of the World Trade Organization and referred to as ‘open regionalism’ which allows free trade among all members and non members in the region. The gradual elimination of internal trade barriers leads to greater multilateral trade liberalization in a given region promoting globalization The South Asian countries face political instability and ethnic conflicts which hinder trade liberalization and global integration. These countries are highly dependent on the world economy. A good example is China where FDI-driven models are essential to their growth models. Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore have a comparative advantage in high-value goods and services. China has an apparent advantage in labor intensive agricultural and manufacturing exports. India has a pool of cheap labor and it should be labor intensive, FDI driven exporter motivating the industrial sector as well as a major exporters of labor intensive agricultural products. Southeast Asia is the main beneficiary of the deep integration into the East-Asian manufacturing supply chains.