The paper describes the current decision-making structure for trade policy formulation in the Philippines and compares it with the systems in selected countries. It cites difficulties in the current set-up, such as : 1) turf mentality among government agencies that tend to paralyze inter-agency...

This paper surveys studies of the importance of Central Asian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the economy and their experience during the Russian financial crisis. It also uses survey data from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Developments Business Environment and Enterprise...

This paper distills some policy lessons from the financial services integration programme in the European Union for East Asia. Focusing on the improved cross-border facilitation of financial flows rather than on general macroeconomic factors related to optimal currency area formation, the paper...

The paper analyzes how various preferential trading arrangements deal with agriculture liberalization and examines a few case studies highlighting the provisions on agriculture. It assesses the effect of preferential trade agreements on agriculture trade flows in the case of ASEAN. It finds that...

Globalization and pressure from increased competition have led to splintering of in-house services from formerly integrated manufacturing firms in developed economies and, at the same time, to an increase in outsourcing of these same services. These two trends have caused a stronger linkage in...

The paper discusses the ASEAN + 3 integration in the context of the literature on hub-and-spoke regionalism. It argues that, provided proper rules of origin are incorporated, the different bilateral arrangements between ASEAN countries and each of the three East Asian economies are building...

The paper describes the current decisionmaking structure for trade policy formulation in the Philippines and compares it with the systems in selected countries. It cites difficulties in the current set-up, such as: 1) turf mentality among government agencies that tend to paralyze interagency...

This paper attempts to examine the performances of Asian AMCs. Our analysis reveals that the AMCs vary significantly in their design and performances. We claim that AMCs can trigger moral hazard-inspired bank lending, especially when the mode of NPL transfer from banks to AMC entails little cost...

This paper distills some policy lessons from the financial services integration program in the European Union for East Asia. Focusing on the improved cross-border facilitation of financial flows rather than on general macroeconomic factors related to optimal currency area formation, the paper...

The paper provides a background for services trade negotiations with Japan. It summarizes various discussions on international trade in services, the challenge of further services trade liberalization, and the rise of regional trade agreements. It discusses the different modalities of services...