BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SOUTH ASIAN REGIONAL COOPERATION

Author: Md. Mamunur Rashid

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2022v43n2a3

ABSTRACT

The Political Economy (PE) of South Asia (SA) is being challenged by number of political and economic issues among countries of SA. All countries in SA region are suffering greatly due to that. Trade deficit between member states, lack of political will and capacity constraints, domestic political obstacles, poor infrastructure for free movement of goods, misunderstanding and mistrust among member states, limitation in policy preparation for regional cooperation and integration, very limited Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), positive leadership, lack of promoting free trade and economic integration are the areas which needs immediate attention for inclusive economic development of member states of SA. The SA Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) could not succeed mainly due to age old rivalry between India and Pakistan. Analysing political economy of regional cooperation’s of SA and other regions and suggest ways and means to improve that would benefit SA region in general and countries of SA region in particular. SAARC as a regional cooperation, needs to analyse the critical challenging aspects of the organisation, look for opportunities and move forward forgetting all the misunderstanding and mistrust of the past among member states. To improve the human development of people of SA, member states must explore global economic drivers like USA, China, Japan, Germany, France, Russia, Singapore, South Korea etc. and successful regional cooperation like Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and European Union (EU) giving due emphasis on technology, innovation, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 4th Industrial Revolution for future development. Selfsufficient in agriculture and industries at the same time earn revenue by allowing India and China to use infrastructure for trade and commerce would reduce trade gap of other SA countries with India and China. SA countries need to develop capacity of their people in technical and vocational subjects, encourage technology and innovation to reduce unemployment and increase overseas employment. Red Tape needs to be abolished from member states of SAARC otherwise FDI will not come in near future. SAARC countries can reduce their cost in trade and commerce if they can link themselves in Belt and Road Initiative of China in future. Visionary leadership of SAARC countries will be the key to reduce differences and mistrust among member states and work for PE which can take member states of SAARC to the zenith of prosperity.