Ekonomik İşbirliği Teşkilatı’nın Bölgesel Entegrasyona Dönüşümünde Engelleyici Faktörler: Bölge İçi Ticaret Açısından Bir Değerlendirme

Abstract

In this study, the structure and level of intra-regional trade in Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which is a movement of regional cooperation founded in the Western and Central Asia region, has been analyzed. In ECO, with a share below its potential at the world trade, intra-regional trade is low relative to other regional integrations such as the European Union. However, the volume of intra-regional trade in the region countries, except a few countries, tend to increase in recent years. In this study, as a result of the evaluation made by the indices calculated, it was found that the region countries is in the position of more complementary economies in context of foreign trade; the countries has generally a high trade intensity with its neighbors; intra-industry trade in the region is at low level. As a result, although the level and structure of intra-regional trade in ECO region seems to be disincentive for the transformation to regional integration as of today, recent developments suggest that this obstacle will gradually diminish in the future. In addition, if some of advantages and potential of the region in terms of regional integration can be valued it does not seem very difficult to reach more advanced stages of integration for this cooperation movement.