Growing Together: Economic Integration for an Inclusive and - escap

a pioneering RTA in the region in 1975, could
provide auspices for a region-wide agreement,
which could be called the Asia-Pacific Trade
Agreement II (APTA II) or Asia-Pacific Trade and
Economic Cooperation Agreement (APTEC).
Such agreement is shown schematically in
figure II.15.
APTA II could coalesce the multiple bilateral
and subregional FTAs into a broader
region-wide trade and comprehensive
economic cooperation arrangement. Such
an arrangement would have the broadest
FIGURE TITLE
II.13. CEPEA as a potential nucleus of a broader integrated market
Source: ESCAP.
TABLE TITLE
II.9. CEPEA in relation to the EU and NAFTA in 2011
possible coverage of any existing or under
negotiation regional trade agreement in
Asia and the Pacific. As this option would
not have any baggage, it would be possible
for it to have all the desirable features,
including a comprehensive scope, based on a
negative list and trade facilitation, investment
and economic cooperation, including the
flexibilities and special and differential
treatment features for the poorer countries to
make it a RTA with a human or Asia and the
Pacific face and as a model for the regional
economic integration.
Indicator EU(27) NAFTA CEPEA(16)
Gross national income (PPP)
15 789
(20.03)
GDP, current prices (billions)
17 960
(25.65)
Exports (millions)
6 029
(33.09)
International reservesa 682
(7.19)
Population (millions)
500
(7.28)
Source: ESCAP based on IFS Database, WEO Database and WTO database.
Note: Percentage of world total in parenthesis.
a International reserves data are for 2010.
18 115
(22.99)
18 009
(25.72)
2 282
(12.53)
299
(3.15)
457
(6.65)
26 136
(33.16)
19 640
(28.05)
5 126
(28.14)
5 214
(54.94)
3 367
(48.98)
54