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Enhanced Regional Economic Cooperation through Dealing with NTMs in the BBIN Sub-Region in South Asia: A Political Economy Approach

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  • Raihan, Selim

Abstract

Despite a strong demand for deeper regional integration in South Asia, progress has been slow. The implementation of agreements often does not match the declared ambitions, and in this context, lack of political will and leadership, institutional weaknesses and low capacity, and resource constraints have been argued to be the major impeding factors. Moreover, the political rivalry between India and Pakistan has often constrained the SAARC to be a functional regional forum. In this regard, a potential effective platform is the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) initiative, a sub-regional coordinative architecture of four countries in South Asia. However, deeper integration among BBIN countries has been impeded by non-tariff measures (NTMs), non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and associated procedural obstacles (POs), which are exacerbated further by lack of trade facilitation and cumbersome customs procedures at the land border ports. To address these problems, the dominant literature has looked primarily at the narrow economic factors influencing regional integration. However, to have a better and systematic assessment of the factors driving and constraining regional integration, it is important to explore the political economy dimensions. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the possibilities of enhanced regional economic cooperation through dealing with NTMs in the BBIN sub-region in South Asia using a political economy approach developed by Raihan (2016a).

Suggested Citation

  • Raihan, Selim, 2017. "Enhanced Regional Economic Cooperation through Dealing with NTMs in the BBIN Sub-Region in South Asia: A Political Economy Approach," MPRA Paper 110470, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:110470
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Raihan, Selim, 2008. "Rules of Origin and Sensitive List under SAFTA and Bilateral FTAs among South Asian Countries: Quantitative Assessments of Potential Implications for Nepal," MPRA Paper 37893, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Saman Kelegama, 2014. "The India–Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement and the Proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement : A Closer Look," Trade Working Papers 23969, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    3. De, Prabir & Raihan, Selim & Kathuria, Sanjay, 2012. "Unlocking Bangladesh-India trade : emerging potential and the way forward," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6155, The World Bank.
    4. De, Prabir & Raihan, Selim & Ghani, Ejaz, 2013. "What does MFN trade mean for India and Pakistan ? can MFN be a Panacea ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6483, The World Bank.
    5. Hertel, Thomas, 1997. "Global Trade Analysis: Modeling and applications," GTAP Books, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, number 7685, December.
    6. Selim Raihan, 2015. "South Asian Economic Union," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 16(2_suppl), pages 3-18, September.
    7. Brunner, Hans-Peter, 2013. "Can Global Value Chains Effectively Serve Regional Economic Development in Asia?," Working Papers on Regional Economic Integration 110, Asian Development Bank.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regional integration; NTMs; BBIN; South Asia; Political Economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F17 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Forecasting and Simulation
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations

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