Infrastructure connectivity and regional economic integration in East Asia: Progress and challenges

Hong Yu

doi:10.24294/jipd.v1i1.21

Infrastructure connectivity and regional economic integration in East Asia: Progress and challenges

Hong Yu

Article ID: 21
Vol 1, Issue 1, 2017

VIEWS - 3261 (Abstract) 1863 (PDF)

Abstract

Intra-regional trade serves as a key growth engine for East Asian economies. Accompanying the rapid growth of bilateral and intra-regional trade ties, the East Asian economies are becoming increasingly connected and interdependent. Infrastructure connectivity plays a crucial role in bridging different areas of the East Asian region and enabling them to reap the full socioeconomic benefits of economic cooperation and integration. Nevertheless, further improvement of infrastructure in the region faces major challenges due to the lack of effective mechanisms for coordination and dialogue on regional integration through funding infrastructure projects, as well as the serious trust deficit among member states that has arisen from the on-going territorial and historical disputes.

Keywords

East Asia; regional economic integration; infrastructure connectivity; China; trust deficit

Full Text:

PDF

References

American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation (2005-2016). Worldwide Chinese Investments and Construction (2005–2016). https://www.aei.org/china-global-investmenttracker/.

Amiti M and Javorcik BS (2008). “Trade costs and location of foreign firms in China”. Journal of Development Economics, 85(1–2): 129–149. doi: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2006.06.001.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) (2009). Infrastructure for a seamless Asia. Manila: Asian Development Bank and Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute.

Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) (2016). ASEAN foreign direct investment statistics database. Jakarta: The ASEAN Secretariat.

Bhattacharyay BN (2010). “Institutions for Asian connectivity”. ADBI Working Paper Series No.Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute. p. 1–25.

Brakman S, Garretsen H and Van Marrewijk C (2001). An introduction to geographical economics:Trade, location and growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Brooks DH (2016). “Connectivity in East Asia”. Asian Economic Policy Review, 11(2): 176–94.doi: 10.1111/aepr.12132.

Choo J and Lim WX (2015). Does nationalism really matter to East Asian regionalism? EAI Background Brief No. 1070. Singapore: National University of Singapore. p. 1–11.

Competition between China and Japan should benefit Indonesia. London: Oxford Business Group. https://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/analysis/competition-between-china-and-japanshould-benefit-indonesia

He Y (2007). “History, Chinese nationalism and the emerging Sino-Japanese conflict”. Journal of Contemporary China, 16(50): 1–24.

Hermansyah A (2016). High-speed rail expensive, destructive: Observers. Jakarta: The Jakarta Post. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/02/06/high-speed-rail-expensive-destructiveobservers.html

Hwee YL (2006). “Japan, ASEAN, and the construction of an East Asian community”. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 28(2): 259–275. doi: 10.1355/cs28-2d.

Kim S and Lee JW (2012). “Real and financial integration in East Asia”. Review of International Economics, 20(2): 332–349. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9396.2012.01025.x.

Lopez L (2016). China, Japan jostle for lead role in Singapore-KL rail project. The Straits Times. Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/china-japanjostle-for-lead-role-in-singapore-kl-rail-project

Ministry of Foreign Affair of Japan (MOFA) (2015a). Partnership for quality infrastructure. Japan: MOFA.http://www.mofa.go.jp/files/000117998.pdf. (2015b). Follow up measures of the Partnership for Quality Infrastructure. Japan: MOFA. http://www.mofa.go.jp/files/000112838.pdf.

Minter A (2016). Just say no to high-speed rail. New York: Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-07-07/just-say-no-to-high-speed-rail.

Mission of Japan to ASEAN (2015). Japan-ASEAN friendship and cooperation: Shared ision, shared identity, shared future. Japan: Mission of Japan to ASEAN. p. 1–10.

Overman HG, Redding S and Venables A (2003). The economic geography of trade, production and income: a survey of empirics. In: Choi EK, Harrigan J. (eds.) Handbook of international trade. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. p. 353–387. doi: 10.1002/9780470756461.ch12.

Pattanaik S (2015). Controversy over Chinese investment in Sri Lanka. East Asia Forum. http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2015/06/05/controversy-over-chinese-investment-in-sri-lanka/.

Pavlićević D and Kratz A (2016). High-speed railways and Sino-Japanese rivalry in Southeast Asia. EAI Background Brief No. 1187. Singapore: National University of Singapore. p. 1–17.

Qin Y (2016). “China’s transport infrastructure investment: Past, present, and future”. Asian Economic Policy Review, 11(2): 199–217. doi: 10.1111/aepr.12135.

Redding S and Venables AJ (2001). Economic geography and international inequality. London: Centre for Economic Performance.

Sally R (2010). Regional economic integration in Asia: The track record and prospects. ECIPE Occasional Paper No. 3. Brussels: European Centre for International Political Economy. p.–25.

Schwab K (2015). The Global Competitiveness report 2015–2016. Geneva: World Economic Forum.

State Council of People’s Republic of China (State Council of PRC) (2016). Remarks by Li Keqiang at the 11th East Asia Summit. China: English.gov.cn. http://english.gov.cn/premier/speeches/2016/09/10/content_281475438626268.htm.

Suzuki S (2015). Will the AIIB trigger off a new round of rivalry in economic diplomacy between China and Japan?. CSGR Working Paper 279/15. UK: University of Warwick. p. 1–15.

World Bank (2016). World development indicators. Washington DC: The World Bank. http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators.

World Shipping Council (2016). Top 50 world container ports. n.d., Washington DC and Brussels:World Shipping Council. http://www.worldshipping.org/about-the-industry/global-trade/top--world-container-ports.

World Trade Organization (2015). International trade statistics 2015. Geneva: World Trade

Organization. Yip WK (2001). “Prospects for closer economic integration in East Asia”. Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs, 1: 106–111.

Yu H (2011). Economic development and inequality in China: The case of Guangdong. Routledge:London and New York.

_____ (2014). “China’s eagerness to export its high speed rail expertise to the ASEAN”. The Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies, 32(2):13–36.

_____ (2016). “Motivation behind China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiatives and establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank”. Journal of Contemporary China, 1–16. (In Press). doi: 10.1080/10670564.2016.1245894.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v1i1.21