Jeju Peace Institute

Asian regionalism gained momentum in the wake of the 1997 East Asian financial crisis. It began from the recognition that East Asian countries vulnerable to external shocks should build their capabilities to cope with regional crises jointly. At present, it looks as though Asian regionalism has made great strides, at least in economic terms, largely due to the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) and the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI) in the area of the currency and financial cooperation, and to numerous bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) in the field of trade and services. However, the truth of the matter is that economic regionalism is making slow gains in the region because of the characteristics of the structure of the regional division of labor, as well as certain non-economic factors that continue to hover over the region. The future prospects are uncertain, too.

Therefore, considerable progress should be made toward regional economic integration as the first step toward economic regionalism in East Asia. This development will then serve as the crucial foundation for not only the economic prosperity of the region but also for the stability and development of the global economy.​