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The Business Environment in Southern Africa : Issues in Trade and Market Integration - Full reportThis report assesses some of the key
 barriers to greater trade and factor market integration in
 the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The SADC
 has been a free trade area since 2008, and has an ambitious
 agenda for further trade integration. This report assesses
 the roles that cross-country differences in business
 environments have had in impeding cross-border trade flows
 and the cross-border integration of credit markets and the
 labor market based on the analysis of microeconomic data on
 firms and households. The aim of the assessment is to help
 inform the policy and business environment harmonization
 agenda of the community. The full report discusses and
 illustrates the use of price data in monitoring
 intraregional trade integration. The report evaluates the
 extent of integration of labor markets among members the
 statistical agencies of which regularly collect the minimum
 data required for this purpose, which are South Africa,
 Mauritius, Tanzania, and Zambia. The results show that,
 although there is considerable integration of South
 Africa's labor market with many others in the region,
 the degree of integration is rather low. This reflects the
 fact that both trade and capital flows are far more
 restricted in the region than in places where there is
 greater cross-border labor market integration.
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Regional Economic Integration in the Middle East and North Africa : Beyond Trade ReformLimited integration has stifled the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region's ability to tap into its significant potential for economic growth and job creation. The MENA region is among the least integrated in the world economy. Although home to 5.5 percent of the world's population (on average for 2008-10) and 3.9 percent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP), the region's share of nonoil world trade is only 1.8 percent. By contrast, countries that have opted for a liberal trade and investment regime most notably in East Asia have experienced a significant increase in trade, employment, and per capita income. If petroleum and gas are taken into consideration, the MENA region is far more integrated in the world economy, with total exports accounting for 6.2 percent of total world trade. Exports of oil and gas represent about three-quarters of MENA's total exports. This study shows that, in spite of commendable reform efforts in recent years, the MENA region continues to face constraints to economic competitiveness in general, and trade barriers in particular. Of critical importance is the need to improve trade-related infrastructure and strengthen trade facilitation activities. Moreover, this study demonstrates that preferential trade agreements (PTAs), though helpful in many respects, do not significantly expand exports. Instead, the focus in must be on opening up to the rest of the world, which may require that individual countries aggressively pursue unilateral liberalization policies. While regional cooperation and integration can bring benefits, these efforts can also pose significant costs if not carried out in a manner that is compatible with broader global integration trends. Finally, while there is reasonable potential to enhance trade in goods, trade in services is a major untapped source of trade growth within the region and between the region and the rest of the world. The main objective of this report is to assess the achievements in, opportunities for, and challenges of deeper regional economic cooperation and integration within the MENA region and between the region and the rest of the world.
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ASEAN Integration Monitoring ReportThe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a community of more than 600 million people living in ten countries in one of the most dynamic regions of the world. Consistent with this, ASEAN's share of world GDP and world trade has sharply increased over the past decades. In 2003, ASEAN's regional integration agenda was significantly deepened when ASEAN Member States adopted the ambitious goal of forming an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. These goals were crystallized in the highly specific targets set for creating a 'single market and production base' in the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint of 2007, signed by the Heads of the Governments of the ASEAN countries. The focus of the report is on policy and market integration outcomes achieved in ASEAN Member States (AMS) as part of the Pillar One of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) formation process. The aim is to assess progress drawing on evidence from a large range of indicators on policies and outcomes. The report then suggests priorities for future actions for implementing the AEC 2015 goals. This report is based on the inception report presented to and endorsed by the Senior Economic Officials' Meetings of the ASEAN last year and on the presentation on early findings also to the SEOM. The earlier version of this report was also presented to the 45th ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meetings in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam in August 2013. This report is intended to complement the recent mid-term review report by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA, 2012), which has focused more on progress with agreements and commitments for achieving AEC 2015 goals.