Regional Trade Blocs: A Game-Changer for the Emerging and Developing Economies

In past couple of Decades, Regional Trade Blocs (RTBs) have assumed a great significance in the economic and political scenarios of the transitory and fast-transforming world, with focus on the emerging and developing economies. Over the years, Regional Trade Blocs (RTBs) have played a pivotal role in designing and regulating the trend and pattern of international trade across the globe. RTB aims at not only to reducing regional trade barriers and/or tariffs; but also in catalyzing the economies towards expanded horizons of new /innovative trade and investment opportunities, and its facilitation in favour of participating states. Although such blocs are formed with the agenda of achieving regional economic cooperation and integration, but this can be extrapolated for enhancing strategic partnership and information exchanges; thus serving as a base to expand intra-regional (rather than inter-regional) trade. The complexities of RTBs have been further amplified due to the recent stalemate on lowering trade barriers with emerging markets (viz. BRICS), impacting the future trade policies and underlain negotiations at various regional and multilateral for a triggering debates on options between regionalism vis-a-vis multilateralism. Furthermore, the recent Brexit from EU opens up impending debates on the question of continuity of EU in the future. The book on 'Regional Trade Blocs: A Game-Changer for the Emerging and Developing Economies' aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the various implications and nuances of the major Regional trading blocs and that of new Emerging trading blocs, which will help enhance better regional and bilateral trade among member nations in areas related to commerce, economy, geopolitical issues and international cooperation at large in the field of International Trade.…