Regional Cooperation and Integration Strategy

Abstract

The Asia and Pacific region accounts for about 60% of the world’s population and 30% of the world’s total land area. With these vast human and natural resources, Asian economies have grown at an unparalleled pace. With the exception of 1998, Asia has been the fastest growing region of the world for several decades. This dynamic growth has been the engine that has lifted hundreds of millions of people in the region out of poverty. Yet Asia-Pacific is a region of enormous disparity in income levels, living standards, and socio-economic conditions. Nearly two thirds of the world’s poor still live in developing Asia. ADB’s vision is an Asia-Pacific region free of poverty. To pursue this vision, regional cooperation and integration (RCI) is an important platform to complement efforts at the country level. By working together countries in Asia and the Pacific can unlock their vast economic potential, achieve sustained, rapid growth, and reduce poverty. Leaders across Asia and the Pacific have, therefore, expressed their shared vision of a thriving regional economy, well integrated within itself, and with the world.