With trade and financial linkages within Asia continuing to strengthen and broaden, it is timely to take stock of progress to date and consider future trends. ASEAN countries have taken the lead in promoting trade integration and are moving to deepen regional integration by 2015 in the context of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), while also expanding the scope of integration to other partners in Asia through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (ASEAN+6). Financial integration has proceeded at a slower pace than trade integration but is now catching-up and increasing flows of financial and direct investments within the region, including in the banking sector, are complementing and deepening trade links.

Questions this session will address:

• What are main policy options to capture benefits from further trade integration within the region and the global economy?
  
• What have been the reasons for the slower pace of financial integration to date and the main policy options to encourage financial development and integration? Can lessons be learned from other regions?
  
• Looking ahead, rising final demand and shifting consumption patterns within Asia countries could accelerate and shift these trends. What are the implications of large differences in per capita incomes across countries for the success of integration?