Special Theme: Empowering Nations Through Regional Cooperation

Abstract

Regional cooperation eliminates physical and nonphysical barriers. It amplifies domestic development by widening the options available to participating countries, expanding markets and access to key imports. This is particularly important for countries—or regions within countries—with limited access to markets and resources. Integrating smaller economies into larger regional economies expands the size of the market, thus facilitating cost reduction through economies of large-scale production.