Should East Asia Go Regional?

The Regionalism Debate: An Overview

“…This would mean that regional liberalization would in practice as well as in law be generally consistent with the m.f.n. principle (WTO, 1996, p. 11). Interestingly, this was the option considered in detail and preferred by the author in the context of regionalism in East Asia (Panagariya, 1993 and. The Director General expressed a clear preference for this option when he concluded:…”

An East Asian FTA: A Philippine Perspective

“…An EAFTA can help reduce political tensions and promote harmony between Asian countries but it will require enormous political will to push integration ahead. Yamazawa (2002) and Panagariya (1998) are equally pessimistic about the short-term future of the proposal. Munakata (2002) contended that such a scheme will take some time.…”