ABSTRACT
Many countries all over the world are facing problems of development and ask themselves the question whether regional integration or cooperation can give a boost to their development efforts. This chapter describes the way in which regional integration in the world has progressed and the salient features of the most important regional integration schemes (RIAs). The objective of all RIAs is to provide certain public goods that neither the market nor the national governments can provide as efficiently as the RIA. Paramount among these is trade liberalisation. The wave of regionalism has achieved considerable trade and investment liberalisation in the framework of open regionalism. Most RIAs have faced considerable problems in realising even relatively modest ambitions; however, real progress has been made and integration has moved beyond incomplete Free Trade Areas with positive effects on growth. The major RIAs of the world reveal very important differences in internal homogeneity, population size and institutional structures.
