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The Asia-Pacific region’s experience with the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of regional cooperation and Integration (RCI) in guiding and leveraging national efforts to fight the disease and initiate recovery.

RCI has played a crucial role in the region’s ongoing efforts to ensure fair and timely access to vaccines and adopt common and mutually safe methods for lifting lockdowns and border restrictions. RCI will play an equally important role in helping the region achieve an inclusive and sustained recovery over the medium term.

Multilateral development banks (MDBs) and other development partners can provide long-term support for investments and collective action for a post-COVID-19 recovery, with RCI as a critical enabler for achieving the international Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). MDBs have mobilized unprecedented resources and technical support to overcome the pandemic at the country-level; they have also helped encourage and enhance collaboration among countries to augment and reinforce national development efforts.

In line with their shared commitment to support the post-COVID-19 recovery and achieve inclusive and sustainable development through RCI, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank Group (WBG) will be launching a joint report entitled

REGIONAL COOPERATION AND INTEGRATION IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC: RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND “BUILDING BACK BETTER”

The report aims to support evidence-based RCI dialogue and policymaking by:

  • Demonstrating RCI’s role in responding to significant development trends and assisting countries in the region emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Drawing lessons from the pandemic’s emergency response and identifying pathways for the region to “Build Back Better”.
  • Highlighting how participating MDBs have assisted country-led RCI efforts to foster collective actions in response to the pandemic, while supporting progress on the SDGs.
  • Identifying the participating MDBs’ unique contributions to the design and implementation of innovative RCI initiatives and activities.
The Report covers the following themes :
  1. Innovating and Strengthening Collective Action
  2. Quality Regional Connectivity
  3. Inclusive Trade, Investment, and Migration
  4. Regional Public Goods – Quality of Life and Resilience
  5. Multilateral Development Banks as Key Partners in Promoting Regional Cooperation and Integration (RCI)
A series of webinars on each of these themes was organized in 2021. These webinars provided an opportunity to (i) share information on MDBs’ ongoing RCI interventions in Asia and the Pacific during the emergency and recovery phases of the pandemic; and (ii) present key findings on each theme and collect valuable inputs from policymakers and other relevant stakeholders.

The target audience for the Report and the related webinars include (i) Asia-Pacific policymakers and senior officials of national and regional public sector organizations involved in RCI; (ii) economic and sector/thematic specialists with responsibilities for RCI investments and policy dialogue in Asia-Pacific; (iii) private sector leaders in the Region; and (iv) multilateral, bilateral and civil society organizations supporting RCI in the Region.

The Report was launched on 17 January 2022 and is available for download here. Below is the summary video.

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