In the face of the financial crisis of East Asia in 1997, Japan successfully pressed forth the Miyazawa Plan and other efficient rescue packages while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank failed to present effective programs. With its presence established, Japan kept playing a leading role in formulating the Chiang Mai Initiative which facilitated bilateral and regional economic cooperation in the area. Based on the analysis of the process, this book examines the ways in which East Asia has grappled with the regional integration of the economies of the area. The study focuses upon competing developmental models, the effects of the Free Trade Agreement and the Economic Partnership Agreement, the initiatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, investments, and trades in the region. The contributors to the book then inquire what can be done in financial and monetary domains, with special attention paid to the effects of the depreciation of currencies and the consequences of the IMF emergency policies. The study also addresses the issues of productivity, problems of agrarian small states, and difficulties of the socially weak in the region.

About Editors and Authors

ABE Shigeyuki is Professor in the Faculty of Policy Studies, Doshisha University, and Director of the Center for Contemporary Asian Studies, Doshisha University. He was born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1948 and graduated in 1970 from the Faculty of Economics, Osaka University. He completed a PhD at the University of Hawaii in 1977, and worked at Kyoto Sangyo University, Kobe University and Kyoto University before serving as Professor in the Faculty of Policy Studies at Doshisha University from 2004. His research focuses on development economics, and current research themes include regional integration, direct investment, the Chinese economy and social security in Asia.

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