This document is a newsletter from the GIZ Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration in Asia Programme. It provides updates on recent activities including study tours on cross-border cooperation, workshops on trade facilitation and social implications of economic integration, and an expert forum on cross-border cooperation and trade facilitation. It also summarizes recent trends in Asian regionalism from sources like the Asian Development Bank, Boao Forum for Asia, and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Upcoming events and new publications from the programme are listed.

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Information on economic cooperation and integration in Asia
From the GIZ Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration in Asia Programme
Issue No. 4
May 2014
Editorial
Dear Readers,
The fourth issue
marks the one-year
anniversary of
Connect Asia and is
also the first newsletter
to be released in 2014.
As announced, we are
covering our annual
Expert Forum on
Trade Facilitation and
Cross-Border
Cooperation, and the
first workshop on the topic of port cooperation in Southeast Asia. Both topics will
be present in programme activities throughout this year, alongside with efforts to
tackle the low realisation rate of free trade agreements in the region.
The Joint Agreement on Trade Facilitation at the 9th Ministerial Conference of
the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Bali and the strong commitment to
regional integration in Asia voiced at the recent Boao Forum for Asia, show that
the work of GIZ’s RCI Programme is situated within the frame of most recent
developments. In this light during 2014, we will continue to bring this process
closer to you through the Connect Asia newsletter, our review of trends in
regional integration and dates of interest.
Please make sure to check out our documentations which contain the outcomes
of our activities. The reports are now handily linked on the right column of the
newsletter for you to read and share. We will continue to publish these insights
not only to document our and our partner’s endeavours, but to share the
discussions with a wider audience. Any feedback is, as always, very welcome.
Please feel free to distribute this newsletter among your colleagues!
With the best wishes
Magnus C. M. Brod
Editor
Contents
Study Tour: Cross-Border Cooperation and Development in Border Areas
Workshop: Social Implications of Economic Integration
Expert Forum: Cross-Border Cooperation and Trade Facilitation
Expert Hearing: Port Cooperation in the Pan-Beibu-Gulf Region
Study Tour: Cross-border Economic Cooperation and Free Economic Zones
in a Regional Integrated Environment
Recent Trends in Asian Regionalism
Programme News
Dates and Events
9 May
Roundtable Forum: Occupational
Safety and Health in ASEAN Ports
Bangkok, Thailand
SPD Programme, GIZ
www.sustainableport.org/...
3-6 June
Conference: Plugging into Global
Value Chains - Roles of Trade and
Investment Policy
Shah Alam, Malaysia
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
www.adb.org/...
16-19 June
Conference: Support to Regional
Economic Communities – Peer-to-
Peer Learning 2013/14
Brussels, Belgium
GIZ
Contact REC-Peer-
Learning@giz.de
19-20 June
Seminar on Transport Cooperation
in NEA
Manzhouli, PR China
Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI)
www.tumenprogramme.org/...
19-21 August
8th China Goes Global Conference
Shanghai, PR China
Shanghai Jiaotong University,
KEDGE Business School
www.chinagoesglobal.org/...
17-18 September
Fourth GTI Trade Facilitation
Committee and International
Seminar
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI)
www.tumenprogramme.org/...
More on GIZ RCI Programme
Regional economic cooperation
and integration play an increasingly
important role in Asia’s economic
landscape. They help countries to
overcome the limitations of
domestic markets and foster
inclusive development, both by

2. Cross-Border Cooperation
Study Tour: Cross-Border Cooperation and Development in
Border Areas
Following up to the successful
Workshop on “Project
Management of Cross-border
Cooperation: European
Experiences” in August 2013,
where participants were
familiarised with the initiation,
planning, and management of
cross-border cooperation
projects, the RCI Programme
organised a Study Tour to Europe
for delegates from relevant ministries of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Viet Nam and PR
China to examine the implementation of cross-border cooperation on the ground.
As Asian countries are very heterogeneous in terms of economic development
and cross-border cooperation initiatives have contributed vastly to European
cohesion and integration, the central question of the study tour was how local
cross-border cooperation can contribute to speed up the convergence process
and to reduce disparities between border regions.
In the scope of the study tour participants, amongst others, visited two cross-border
regions (Euregio) between Germany and Austria as well as between
Germany, Austria and Czech Republic to learn more about their constitution,
functioning as well as the implementation of concrete projects. Further
institutions, such as the Ministry of Development and Competitiveness as well as
the Managing Authority of European Territorial Cooperation Programmes, were
visited in Greece, where topics like administrative cooperation as well as the
transformation of economically weak border areas through local cross-border
cooperation were discussed. The study tour concluded with field trips to cross-border
projects at the Greece border with Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania.
Contact: Lisa.Brueckner@giz.de
top
Regional Integration
Workshop: Social Implications of Economic Integration
On 16 October 2013, the RCI
Programme in collaboration with
the International Organization for
Migration (IOM) convened a
workshop on Social Implications
of Economic Integration:
"Managing Cross-Border Labour
Migration on a Regional Scale" in
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The workshop, facilitated by Mr. Srawooth Paitoonpong (Thailand Development
Research Institute) and Ms.Yuko Hamada (International Organisation for
Migration), aimed at strengthening the capacity of Cambodian authorities to
assess and manage labour migration on a regional scale. Hereby a common
understanding among Cambodian stakeholders of the significance of social
aspects of regional integration was reached. It assembled 21 participants from
relevant line ministries, research and non-government institutions. Participants
actively contributed to the discussion on causes for and consequences of illegal
labour migration as well as on possible solutions to labour migration problems in
Cambodia.
The event successfully achieved its goal of mapping the status quo and of
developing concrete and realistic steps for future action. It resulted in a number
of recommendations for Cambodia, primarily aimed at providing social protection
for Cambodian migrant workers.
A documentation of the workshop which contains the event's main findings and
inputs is available for download: www.scribd.com/...
Contact Lisa.Brueckner@giz.de
top
Regional Knowledge Sharing
Expert Forum: Cross-Border Cooperation and Trade
Facilitation
From 27 to 28 November 2013,
the RCI Programme convened
inclusive development, both by
boosting economic growth and by
providing the resources for pro-poor
policies. The GIZ RCI
Programme supports regional
stakeholders with the aim to
strengthen selected core
processes of regional economic
cooperation and integration and to
contribute to sustainable and
inclusive economic development in
the region.
Stay up to date with GIZ RCI
If you would like to continue
receiving regular updates on our
programme activities and further
insights on regionalisation
processes in Asia, please refer to
the GIZ Newsletter mainpage and
suscribe here. You will find
"Connect Asia" under the "Project
and Programme Newsletters" tab.
Follow GIZ
FFoollllooww @@rrccii__aassiiaa
Publications
The following selection of event
documentations and background
papers are available for download:
Second Expert Forum: Cross
Border Cooperation & Trade
Facilitation
Expert Hearing: Port Cooperation
in the Pan-Beibu Gulf Region
Background Paper: Shanghai Free
Trade Zone
Workshop: Project Management of
Cross-Border Cooperation
Expert Hearing: Cross Border
Cooperation & Trade Facilitation
Workshop: Social Implications of
Economic Integration
Economic Policy Dialogue:
Urbanisation and Inclusive Growth
Workshop: Managing Cross-
Border Labour Migration

3. its second international Expert
Forum on “Cross-border
Cooperation and Trade
Facilitation in Asia” in Bangkok,
Thailand. It brought together
over 40 experts from member
countries of the subregional
initiatives Pan-Beibu Gulf
Economic Cooperation (PBG), Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation
(CAREC), Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI), and Greater Mekong Subregion
Economic Cooperation (GMS).
The event is a unique platform for mutual learning and transfer of professional
experience. Thus, the intermediate goal was to deepen the network for further
sustainable cooperation and communication between these four subregional
initiatives. Participants exchanged practical solutions to trade barriers such as
“Single Window” and “Special Economic Zones” as well as discussed the
implications of the 9th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in Bali 2013 and the
ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Experts from Germany and Asia alike
shared their views with participants.
Along the lines of “Connect Asia”, the expert forum did not only lead to a vivid
exchange of existing knowledge, but rather strengthened the established
foundation for a sustainable network and platform for dialogue expanding from
Kazakhstan over Mongolia to Viet Nam and Indonesia.
A documentation of the expert forum is available with the event's main findings
and inputs. Access the document here: www.scribd.com/...
Contact: Lisa.Brueckner@giz.de
top
Port Cooperation
Expert Hearing: Port Cooperation in the Pan-Beibu Gulf
Region
In the scope of its support for
PBG Economic Cooperation
Initiative, the RCI Programme
held an Expert Hearing and
Roundtable on “Port Coopertion
in the Pan-Beibu Gulf Region" in
Bangkok, Thailand on 26
November 2013.
Maritime Economy has been
identified as a priority sector for PBG Economic Cooperation. Against this
background, the RCI Programme had commissioned a study exploring potentials
for port cooperation in the region which will be finalised in the coming weeks and
be published in the next edition of our newsletter. The workshop served as a
platform for the author of the report, Mr. Martin Schramm of Hamburg Port
Consulting (HPC), to present major findings.
The input yielded fruitful discussions among delegates from Cambodia,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, PR China, Thailand, and Viet Nam − ranging
from port officials to representatives from port authorities and ministries − as well
as among delegates from the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI) and GIZ, potential
projects, requirements and prerequisites for cooperation were identified as well
as “next steps” discussed. The workshop hereby successfully contributed to a
more vivid discussion of this relatively new, however duly important field for PBG
member countries.
A documentation of the expert hearing is available with the event's main findings
and inputs. Access the document here: www.scribd.com/...
Contact: Magnus.Brod@giz.de
top
Cross-Border Cooperation; Special Economic Zones
Study Tour: Cross-Border Economic Cooperation and Free
Economic Zones in a Regional Integrated Environment
In the scope of continuous
cooperation between the
Secretariat to the Lao National
Committee for Special Economic
Zones (S-NCSEZ)
and the RCI Programme, a study

4. tour on the topic of “Cross-Border
Economic Cooperation and Free
Economic Zones in a Regional
Integrated Environment” was
conducted in December 2013.
The Lao delegation, headed by a Minister to the Government’s Office and further
consisting of seven more government representatives from S-NCSEZ and
relevant line ministries, accompanied by GIZ RCI staff visited Finland, Belgium
and Germany to learn from specific European approaches pertaining to the
design and management of Special Economic Zones as well as their
embeddedness in European regional policy.
Among others, the “Southeast-Finland Russia Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC)
Programme” as well as one of Finland`s Free Zones in Lappeenranta were
inspected. The delegates and their hosts exhaustively discussed how the
European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) supports
European regional development and how Free Economic Zones function in an
economically integrated environment. Moreover, topics such as required
institutional mechanisms to successfully establish cross-border cooperation
projects between Finland and Russia as well as key success factors to harness
the full potential of Special Economic Zones were closely examined.
Visits to GIZ Headquarters in Eschborn, GIZ Office Brussels as well as to the
EU Commission Directorate General for Development and Cooperation -
EuropeAid concluded the study tour.
Contact: Lisa.Brueckner@giz.de
top
Recent Trends in Asian Regionalism
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Release of Asian Economic Integration Monitor April 2014
Despite the sharp decline in global FDI in 2012, inflows to Asia decelerated much
slower – due to a significant increase in intra-Asian FDI flows, especially from
East Asia to ASEAN. As growth moderates in some of the region’s largest
economies – and with the potential for increased geopolitical tension – the
authors argue, that it is essentially important for Asia to continue to strive toward
broader and more effective regional cooperation. Deepening economic links
however imply more significant spillovers and increased risks of contagion
during crises. Strengthening regional cooperation in surveillance and financial
safety nets will thus be an imperative task.
To read the full report, please visit: www.adb.org/... (PDF 2,2 MB)
Boao Forum For Asia
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership on its way
Works on the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
are to be intensified according to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The RCEP is
planned to include ASEAN member states, as well as the PR China, Japan, the
Republic of Korea, India, New Zealand and Australia to overcome the obstacle
imposed by different FTA’s commonly being in place. “Economic integration is in
the common interest of all nations” added Li. Further comments at the annual
meeting highlighted integration, connectivity and joint cooperation mechanisms in
Asia.
For more background information see: www.boaoforum.org/...
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)
Study: Enhancing Regional and Subregional Cooperation and
Connectivity in ASEAN
In order to realise ambitious regional integration plans, the authors argue, that
political leaders of ASEAN need to find a harmonious approach of aligning
regional and subregional initiatives. Hereby, discrepancies could be narrowed
among economic communities and its participants and hence progress towards
an ASEAN community achieved. According to the study, subregional initiatives,
such as GMS, can be regarded as bite-size models to attract investment and
technology from which ASEAN leaders can draw important lessons whilst
scaling up to larger cross-border projects.
Read the full study here: www.iseas.edu/... (PDF 0,7 MB)
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
UNCTAD releases Review of Maritime Transport 2013
UNCTAD has published its annual Review of Maritime Transport for 2013. It
includes large data series and analysis on major developments in international

5. includes large data series and analysis on major developments in international
seaborne trade, shipping, the world fleet, freight markets, and transport-related
regulatory and legal frameworks. Due to the overall importance of the maritime
economy for a globalized world in general and for developing countries in
particular, the document offers very valuable insights.
Access the full report here: www.unctad.org/... (PDF2,7 MB)
Joint publication: ADB and ISEAS
The ASEAN Economic Community: A work in progress
This joint publication by ADB and ISEAS provides an opportunity for experts to
analyse and discuss whether the ASEAN Economic Community is achievable by
2015. Approaching the obstacles along the way and the measures needed for its
eventual implementation, the chapters give an overview on different aspects of
the implementation progress by further supporting the survey's results which
conclude that a lack of awareness of AEC 2015 in the ASEAN business
community can be attributed to the absence of actual economic integration. A
major finding in respect thereof shows that subregional zones can help to reduce
development gaps and improve connectivity across national boundaries.
Download the full article here: www.adb.org/... (PDF 4,5 MB)
top
World Bank
Lesotho's Trade Portal result of South-South Cooperation
The African state of Lesotho has officially launched its own trade portal - a
single, online source for all trade-related regulations and procedures for import
and export. It is said to be the first of its kind in all of Africa. The portal is a
product of bilateral cooperation between Lao PDR and Lesotho, with assistance
by the World Bank. The new portal has been designed following the example of
the remarkably effective Lao PDR Trade Portal, launched in 2012 and widely
used, and thus marks a highly successful example of South-South learning in
this duly important field.
To find our more, please visit: www.blogs.worldbank.org/...
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Study assesses Impact of Regional Cooperation Projects in
the Greater Mekong Subregion
The Greater Mekong Subregion has recently witnessed rapidly increasing
activity. By the end of 2012 for instance, the programme had already mobilised
$15.5 billion in investment projects. This recent study by the World Bank
assesses the socioeconomic impact of initiated projects. For this purpose,
representative projects in key sectors are identified and closely analysed.
Download the report here: www.adb.org/... (PDF 1,8 MB)
European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM)
Study: Economic Diplomacy and South-South Trade - A New
Issue in Development
This recent piece by Peter van Bergeijik points out the importance of reputation
management for developing countries. This includes increasing their trading and
investment partners as well as increasing their national quality infrastructure.
Cooperation between countries can enhance the trade performance of a country
to a high degree.This is especially important in light of rising South-South trade
and growing trade relations among neighbouring developing countries. Bergeijik
quotes the PR China, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam
as examples of efficient international cooperation efforts to overcome existing
hurdles for trade and investments.
To access the full article, please visit: www.ecdpm.org/...
World Bank
Study: Expand Freight Transport to Facilitate Trade in Viet
Nam
Persistently high growth rates of GDP have resulted in higher demand for freight
transport in Viet Nam. As the country’s road network is already experiencing
capacity constraints and due to substantially rising environmental costs of road
use for freight movements, waterborne freight transport bears great potential.
This study by the World Bank identifies challenges associated with an expansion
of waterborne transport as well as develops a strategy to successfully
overcome these barriers.
Download the study here: www.openknowledge.worldbank.org/... (PDF 4,3 MB)
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In charge of this newsletter:
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Editor(s):
Magnus C. M. Brod, magnus.brod@giz.de
Contributors:
Lisa Brückner, lisa.brueckner@giz.de
Magnus C. M. Brod, magnus.brod@giz.de
Stefan Hein, esrp-rci@giz.de
Torben Niemeier, rci-asia2@giz.de
Susann Kubisch, susann.kubisch@giz.de
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