Opportunities and Challenges in Building an East Asian Community

Inherenet weaknesses in AFTA and AEC and the need to counter regionalism in other parets of the world are some of the important reasons for evolving an East Asian Community. However, there are several obstacles in achieving this: the growing number of sub-regional PTAs; the wide economic disparity in the region and long standing shar competition among countries of the region, eg, china and JApan. Economic integration and convergence need to be brought about through various means including reforms at the domestic level. The Phillipine financial system is increasingly integrated with the global economy. Regional financial development can influence domestic policy change.