ASEAN as A Regional Bloc

Abstract

Last decade has witnessed two significant developments in the international trading environment, namely Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and issue of rising regionalism. While Multilateral Trade Negotiations aimed at integrating national markets and resulting in larger world trade though the process of globalisation, rising negotiations helped and enhanced the role of trading blocs in it.

This implies that prominent trading blocs and their member states, particularly developed countries (DCs) and newly industrialised countries (NICs), would play an increasingly important role in the emerging global economic order. This would pose many challenges to the developing countries (DCs), particularly those which are outside the major blocs, and would necessitate changes in their policies and perceptions.

It is in the context that the paper makes an attempt to understand the phenomenon of growing regionalism in Asia-Pacific region with special reference to ASEAN in terms of their contour, directions and implications.