Platforms for regional and subregional cooperation helped spur collective action to help Asia and the Pacific build back resiliency from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Regional cooperation platforms such as the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation program helped countries respond to the COVID-19 emergency. In South Asia, partners will have the opportunities to support regional market development through transport corridors, trade facilitation, and cross-border energy trade post-COVID-19.

Author: Asian Development Bank

Year: 2022

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Tags: ADB, Bangladesh, COVID-19, Economic Corridor Development, Energy, India, Trade Facilitation, SASEC, ADB RCI 2022 , ADB RCI

This publication looks at Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) corridors, drawing lessons for the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) subregion. It also looks at the potential for multimodal connectivity between CAREC and BBIN countries. BBIN countries formed the South Asian Growth Quadrangle in 1996 and, with help from the Asian Development Bank, formed the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program in 2001 to promote regional cooperation in transport and trade. The SASEC partnership later grew to include Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.

Author: CUTS International

Year: 2021

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Tags: BBIN, Connectivity, Economic Corridor Development, SASEC, Regional Connectivity, Trade Facilitation, Transport

The book reviews how Asia and the Pacific can leverage regional cooperation to realize the region’s economic potential. Subregional initiatives such as the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program could support regional public goods, including road, energy, communication, and railway networks. SASEC is also promoting the development of economic corridors, the strategy for which was introduced in the SASEC Operational Plan 2016–2025.

Author: Bambang Susantono and Cyn-Young Park

Year: 2020

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Tags: SASEC, Transport, Economic Corridor Development, Regional Cooperation, ADB RCI

This brief looks at labor productivity in India and its impact on poverty reduction. It notes the need to bridge the infrastructure gap, improve the investment climate, and invest in education. Economic corridors would boost inclusive development, as these would act as markets for goods, help overcome infrastructure and regulatory bottlenecks, and aid dynamic reallocation. One such corridor is the Vizag–Chennai Industrial Corridor, which the Asian Development Bank is supporting with a $631 million loan.

Author: Kanupriya Gupta and Abhijit Sen Gupta

Year: 2020

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Tags: ADB, India, Economic Corridor Development

This report embodies the strategic objectives and updated operational priorities of the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program operational plan for 2016–2025. It reflects the changes resulting from a rigorous vetting process and identifies priority projects based on preparedness and their roles in filling network gaps. This Update also defines SASEC transport and energy networks and presents adjusted estimates of funding needs to help meet SASEC’s goals of multimodal connectivity, energy market development, and increased intraregional and interregional trade.

Author: Asian Development Bank

Year: 2020

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Tags: ADB, SASEC, Economic Corridor Development, Energy, Regional Cooperation, Trade Facilitation, Transport, ADB RCI

Regional cooperation and integration (RCI) plays a critical role in accelerating economic growth, reducing poverty and economic disparity, and raising productivity and employment. This conference report looks at challenges for accelerating RCI in Asia and the Pacific, with a focus on economic corridors and emerging RCI initiatives. It underscores the importance of gateway ports to multimodal transport, such as the Port of Chittagong in Bangladesh under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program. The report also maintains that RCI technical secretariats, such as that for the SASEC partnership, are vital to fostering RCI across Asia and the Pacific.

Author: Asian Development Bank

Year: 2019

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Tags: ADB, Economic Corridor Development, Regional Cooperation, Trade, Transport, SASEC

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) supports cross-border infrastructure to help foster regional cooperation and integration. It is transforming transport corridors into economic corridors, allowing South Asian countries to participate in regional and global value chains and promote agriculture trade. In 2018, ADB committed $150 million to upgrade sections of South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) road corridors in India and Nepal. The investments aim to improve connectivity between Manipur (in India) and Myanmar; build an India–Nepal international bridge; and improve the safety of Nepal’s East–West Highway. ADB also approved a technical assistance project to build institutional capacity and improve expertise of trade facilitation officials in SASEC member countries.

Author: Asian Development Bank

Year: 2019

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Tags: Economic Corridor Development, ADB, Energy, India, Nepal, SASEC, Trade Facilitation

Bangladesh needs a holistic development strategy to drive regionally balanced development. An integrated strategy for economic corridor development suits the country as it is a proven tool that enables industrial proliferation, upgrades infrastructure, unifies domestic markets, and links production centers with global value chains. Developing economic corridors would create jobs and markets and decentralize development in Bangladesh.

Author: Soon Chan Hong

Year: 2018

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Tags: ADB, Bangladesh, Economic Corridor Development, ADB RCI

This paper summarizes a study that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) undertook upon the request of the Government of Tamil Nadu, India. The state sought to become a preferred investment destination with an investor-friendly business climate. The study identified policy, institutional, and process reforms to improve the ease of doing business in Tamil Nadu, including institutional and regulatory reforms needed for the East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) development. The study resulted in the implementation of an online single window mechanism that simplified and sped up processes for transparent and time-bound clearances for investors.

Author: Asian Development Bank

Year: 2018

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Tags: ADB, Ease of Doing Business, Economic Corridor Development, India, Single Window, ADB RCI

This book looks at how the economic benefits of investments in transport corridors could be amplified and how negative impacts could be minimized in South Asia. The book introduces an appraisal methodology that looks at the web of interconnected elements around corridors and assesses proposed corridors according to their potential to bring wider economic benefits (WEB). It uses case studies of past and recent corridor initiatives, and presents a simulation of the impact of the proposed Kolkata-Dhaka corridor.

Author: Asian Development Bank, JICA, UKAID, World Bank

Year: 2018

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Tags: ADB, Economic Corridor Development, Gender, Regional Integration, Roads, Trade, Transport, WB, ADB RCI

This report serves as the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) tool for monitoring and strengthening its progress. In South Asia, ADB’s $1.3 billion commitment to regional cooperation and integration (RCI) were spread across South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program’s priority areas: transport, energy, trade facilitation, and economic corridor development. Project preparation work will expand the $5 billion pipeline for RCI in the subregion with 26 projects planned for approval. SASEC finance ministers endorsed a joint vision of regional cooperation and connectivity. Myanmar’s addition to SASEC improved cooperation prospects between South and Southeast Asian subregions.

Author: Asian Development Bank

Year: 2018

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Tags: ADB, Myanmar, SASEC, Transport, Economic Corridor Development

This paper reviews literature estimating the impact of large transport investments. It reviews 78 studies, 11 of which centers on infrastructure projects in India. The paper looks at the economic benefits of transport infrastructure projects to better understand how corridors could generate wider economic benefits, with a focus on roads, rails, and waterways. The review assesses the impact of transport corridor projects on economic welfare and equity, environmental quality, and social inclusion, and suggests a need for policies and institutions that address trade-offs.

Author: Mark Roberts, Martin Melecky, Theophile Bougna, and Yan Sarah Xu

Year: 2018

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Tags: Economic Corridor Development, India, Infrastructure, Investment, Railway, Roads, Transport, WB

This paper reviews the current state of trade and trade facilitation among the countries along the six corridors under the Belt Road Initiative (BRI), and looks at the potential impact of infrastructure development on trade. It explores at the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) corridor, and reviews trade growth, tariff rates, logistics performance index, ease of trading across borders, and other indicators in those countries.

Author: Bala Ramasamy, Matthew Yeung, Chorthip Utoktham, and Yann Duval

Year: 2017

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Tags: Bangladesh, Economic Corridor Development, India, Myanmar, Trade Facilitation

This special edition of Together We Deliver tells 50 stories that highlight the importance of good partnerships in Asia and the Pacific in meeting complex development challenges. In South Asia, ADB has supported infrastructure development and social programs, helping lift people out of poverty in a diverse, rapidly urbanizing subregion. The South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Roads Improvement Project, for instance, is set to widen 160 kilometers of Nepal’s East–West Highway, which connects Nepal to India. The improved roads will provide faster and better access to social services and economic opportunities, and will facilitate national and regional integration.

Author: Asian Development Bank

Year: 2017

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Tags: ADB, Economic Corridor Development, India, Nepal, Regional Integration, Roads, SASEC, South Asia, Transport

The East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC)—India’s first coastal corridor—is an integrated economic development initiative that is expected to help pursue industrialization and integrate domestic companies into the global value chains of Southeast Asia and East Asia. Its development will start with Vizag–Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC), which covers about 800 kilometers and includes several ports and major industrial centers. This paper discusses strategies to consider when trying to improve shipping and air connectivity in the ECEC and Vizag–Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC). It stresses the importance of infrastructure development and regulatory reforms that facilitate increased connectivity.

Author: Pritam Banerjee

Year: 2017

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Tags: Bangladesh, Connectivity, Economic Corridor, India, Infrastructure, Regional Integration, Trade Facilitation, Transport, Development, Economic Corridor Development, ADB RCI

This book provides policymakers with a guide to understanding India’s economic corridor development strategy by examining its first coastal economic corridor, the East Coast Economic Corridor. It lays out the plan for its first phase, the Vizag–Chennai Industrial Corridor, which can help unify the country's domestic market, integrate its economy with Asia's global value chains, and support the 'Make in India' initiative to spur manufacturing through construction of world-class infrastructure supported by a major transport network, connecting urban clusters complemented by vibrant industrial zones, and encouraging a favorable and competitive environment for businesses to thrive, and facilitating efficient movement of goods and people. As a policy instrument and development strategy, economic corridors can help fast-track inclusive and sustainable economic growth, stimulate rapid industrialization and increase productivity, promote investments, and expand regional connectivity.

Author: Sabyasachi Mitra, Rana Hasan, Manoj Sharma, Hoe Yun Jeong, Manish Sharma, and Arindam Guha

Year: 2016

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Tags: Economic Corridor, India, Trade Facilitation, Transport, Employment, Economic Corridor Development, ADB RCI