Economic Issues in Regional Integration (ERI)

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The main objective, presented by the Institute for Capacity Development, is to broaden participants’ understanding of economic, monetary, and financial integration and its impact on trade, investment, and economic growth within the region and on the global economy.
The course draws on economic theory and on case studies from experiences in several regions.
The course discusses “requirements” for economic, monetary, and financial integration and examines the economic and political consequences of regional integration.
Workshops are designed to deepen participants’ knowledge of specific issues that may emerge in economic and monetary integration.
Participants use case studies with country data to make assessments of benefits and challenges of regional integration and are expected to deliver their conclusions in short presentations.
Topic: Structural Policies

Target audience:
- Mid-level to senior officials in central banks, ministries of finance, and other interested ministries and agencies in countries that are part of one or multiple regional integration arrangements or planning to further deepen such arrangements.
- Staff from intergovernmental or supranational regional organizations.
Qualifications:
- Participants are expected to have an advanced degree in economics or equivalent experience and be proficient in the use of spreadsheets.

Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:

Analyze the various types of regional integration and discuss the new trends in regional integration.
Identify and critically analyze the opportunities and challenges of various integration schemes for their countries.
Assess the process of regional integration in terms of its implications on economic growth and inequality, and the level and pace of convergence in key macroeconomic variables in the run-up to deeper integration.
Summarize economic and political arguments regarding integration that may affect their own country.