Financing for Regional Economic Integration for Northeast Asia III: A Multilateral Financial Institution for Northeast Asia

Abstract

The Northeast Asian region is one of the most dynamic economic centers of the world, having China, Japan, and Korea as major players, with productive linkages to resource-rich Russia and Mongolia, and to the Pacific and North America. In contrast to the region’s robust economic growth, regional security has long been fragile, mainly due to the geopolitical conditions resulting from the Cold War era. In the twenty-first century, if the countries in Northeast Asia wish to further their development and prosperity, they will have to learn to harness their dynamic economies and create a region in which peaceful coexistence and common prosperity prevail. North Korea, Mongolia, the Russian Far East, and the northeastern provinces of China constitute a northern sub-region that is well-endowed with latent natural and human resources. This sub-region has the potential of becoming a valuable source of natural resources for the entire region, and what is needed is to realize that potential through cross border infrastructure development. Energy security and efficiency, the environment, and green growth, for example, constitute an important area of cooperation, as the three major countries of China, Japan and Korea are heavily dependent on energy imports and are highly vulnerable to energy crises. Financing requirements for the necessary cross-border infrastructure are likely to be large, and a regional financial institution is a key to meeting that financing need. This volume, which is the third in the series of volumes entitled, Financing for Regional Economic Integration for Northeast Asia, comprises papers, research reports, and summaries of a main conference and several specialized meetings, as well as affiliated activities, that took place under this project. The results of this project represent activities contributing to the regional economic integration and have been carried out in a spirit of cooperation.