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Theme: 3. Prosperity, the Pains of Growth and its Governance
Sinae Hyun
Institute for East Asian Studies, Sogang University, Republic of Korea
Jaehyon Lee
Asan Institute for Policy Studies, Republic of Korea
Jinyoung Lee
Jeonbuk National University, Republic of Korea
Hyojung Kim
Kyung Hee University, Republic of Korea
Bo Kyeung Gu
Busan University of Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea
Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat
Busan University of Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea
Hye-Won Park
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea
The Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 brought not only political change and social unrest but also rapid evolution of regional economic cooperation in Asia. While foreign aid has increasingly lost its popular appeal, foreign direct investment and subregional economic cooperation have gained favorable attention for solving uneven development problems in Asia. In this context, developed countries like China and some regional countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia have taken up leadership roles in regional and subregional economic cooperation to enhance shared prosperity. At the same time, critical views on their leadership role have arisen, suspecting their intention of expanding foreign enterprises in the less developed local areas that could negatively affect the recipient country’s economy and the people’s livelihood.
The panel examines the effectiveness and legitimacy of regional and subregional economic cooperation in Southeast Asia. Regional cooperation in Asia premises mutual understanding of painful historical experiences as well as the turbulent process of modernization in each country. In particular, the subregional cooperation is expected to narrow gaps in the level of development between mega-cities and rural countryside and the discrepancy in the local resources. International aid and development assistance, on the other hand, is expected to bring the most needed source for development – capital and technology - to expedite the economic progress in the region. These premises demand a critical reflection on the present cases to evaluate the effectiveness of resource distribution and the legitimacy of cooperation.
Four papers in this panel examine regional economic cooperation from historical, political, diplomatic, and economic perspectives to evaluate its potential for alleviating problems derived from uneven development and consequent political tension between Asian countries. Lee’s paper takes a comparative analysis of Thailand and Indonesia’s international development cooperation projects and how their past development experience affects their donor state behavior. Park’s paper surveys the role of Vietnam and Indonesia in enhancing economic networks, diplomatic relations, and non-traditional security of the region. Gu’s paper focuses on the Indonesian government’s endeavor to resolve the problems of uneven development through multilateral cooperation at the subregional level, like the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA). Zulfikar’s paper investigates the status of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Indonesia and how it will impact the political and economic relations of the two countries. Through these surveys, the panel aims to assess whether cooperation is a viable option for resolving economic problems and political tensions.
Institutional panel by: Korean Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (KISEAS) and Korean Association of Southeast Asian Studies (KASEAS)
Presenter: Jinyoung Lee – Jeonbuk National University
Co-Presenter: Hyojung Kim – Kyung Hee University
Presenter: Bo Kyeung Gu – Busan University of Foreign Studies
Presenter: Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat – Busan University of Foreign Studies
Presenter: Hye-Won Park – Hankuk University of Foreign Studies