The Building Block versus Stumbling Block Debate of Regionalism: From the Perspective of Service Trade Liberalization in Asia
Hamanaka, Shintaro | May 2009
Abstract
When debating the pros and cons of economic regionalism, haven’t we focused enough
on trade in goods at the expense of services? This article argues that regionalism is
certainly a building block, not a stumbling block to a multilateral trading system, using
the services liberalization scheme of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
as a case study. At the same time, it is critical to set out a proper institutional
arrangement to ensure that regional services liberalization initiatives reinforce the global
services regime. This paper proposes an amendment of the current GATS Article V to
define the appropriate relationship between multilateralism and regionalism in the
context of services.
Citation
Hamanaka, Shintaro. 2009. The Building Block versus Stumbling Block Debate of Regionalism: From the Perspective of Service Trade Liberalization in Asia. © Asian Development Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/2344. License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.Keywords
Regionalism
Regional Economy
Regional Trading Arrangements
Regional Trade Integration
Regional Economic Integration
Regional Cooperation
Interregional Cooperation
Trade Disputes
Trade Barriers
Economic integration
Regional Development Bank
Preferential tariffs
International negotiation
Protectionist measures
Access to markets
Economic agreements
International trade law
Regional integration
Trade relations
Regional disparities
Interregionalism
Regional economic disparities
Regional economic blocs
Industrial arbitration
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Citable URI
http://hdl.handle.net/11540/2344Metadata
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