Download or read book Unlocking the Potential of Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration in South Asia written by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and published by United Nations. This book was released on 2017-04-17 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines how countries in South Asia could capitalize on opportunities to cooperate for closer regional economic integration, in particular in the four broad areas of trade and market integration, regional connectivity, financial cooperation, and collective actions to address shared risks and vulnerabilities. It reveals that trade barriers, infrastructural deficits and political divergences have cost the sub-region direly in terms of lost opportunities for exports. The report underscores the prospects available for South Asian countries to play a stronger role in broader regionalism in Asia-Pacific as well as discusses the unique role of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in facilitating that process.