On November 26, 2020 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released a new book titled, ‘Future of Regional Cooperation in Asia and the Pacific’. The book reviews the progress with regional cooperation and integration in Asia and the Pacific. It explores ways for economies in the region to work combinedly to recover and rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic, so as to achieve a more flexible, sustainable, and inclusive future.
- The book consists of papers that are contributed by renowned scholars and staff of ADB.
- The book is edited by Bambang Susantono and Cyn-Young Park.
Points to be Noted:
As per the book, India was the 4th major host of Greenfield Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) projects and 8th major host of cross-border Merger and Acquisition(M&A) deals, during 2004-2015
About the Book:
Strong regional cooperation strategies
The book highlights that strong regional cooperation strategies in health, trade, finance, and disaster risk can help Asian and Pacific governments to accelerate economic growth and also to have a strong recovery from COVID-19 pandemic.
4 Major areas
The book covers four major areas, namely, public goods, trade and investment, financial cooperation, and regional health cooperation.
Approaches:
The book examines approaches for the following:
- To reinforce the regional trade and investment
- To enhance the intraregional infrastructure and connectivity.
- To minimise the financial risk
- To coordinate the health systems and approaches.
- To improve the coordination on the issues of cross-border like climate change and ocean health.
India 4th major host of Greenfield FDI projects & 8th major host of cross-border M&A Deals: 2004-2015
i.As per the book, during 2004-2015,
- India received 8,004 Greenfield Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) projects, which makes it the 4th major host of Greenfield FDI projects.
- India received 4,918 cross-border Merger and Acquisition(M&A) deals, which makes it the 8th major host of cross-border M&A deals.
ii.US becomes the largest recipient of Greenfield FDI with 13,308 counts(accounting about 10% of the total counts)
iii.The major recipients of greenfield investment, among the developing countries are People’s Republic of China (PRC), India, the Russian Federation, Brazil, Mexico, Viet Nam, Romania, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Additional Info
i.The regional cooperation and integration is one among the operational priorities in ADB’s Strategy 2030.
ii.It focuses on the 4 pillars namely, infrastructure connectivity, regional public goods, regional trade and investment, and financial cooperation.
Recent Related News:
i.On September 1, 2020, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a new publication, “The Little Book of Green Nudges”, to inspire students around the globe to adopt environmentally friendly habits and greener lifestyles. The Book was drafted with The Behavioural Insights Team and GRID-Arendal.
ii.Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel has authored a book titled ‘Overdraft: Saving the Indian Saver’, which focuses on the issue of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) that has affected Indian banking in recent years and also its causes. The book will be published by HarperCollins India and will be released by the end of July.
About Asian Development Bank (ADB):
HeadQuarters– Metro Manila, Philippines
Membership– 68 countries(Including India)
President– Masatsugu Asakawa
