Research in the general area of IPE focuses on a variety of themes, including: (1) Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and trade negotiations; (2) the potential for the Renminbi to emerge as a global reserve currency; (3) Asian economic integration; (4) the causes and consequences of financial crises, with a particular focus on Indonesia;(5) Varieties of Capitalism in East Asia; and (6) the global financial architecture.

As an example of the kind of research undertaken, in 2010, the IPE Program initiated research on Asian/Pan-Asian Economic Integration. The objectives of this research are to:

(i) deepen East Asian Integration (ASEAN, ASEAN+3, East Asia Summit)
(ii) broaden East Asian Integration to cover South Asia or Pan-Asian integration
(iii) revitalize economic integration in South Asia
(iv) monitor developments in the evolving global economic architecture and G20, and promote complementarity between global and regional initiatives

Staff of the IPE Program also guest-edited a Special Issue of the Singapore Economic Review on Asian economic Integration. Staff are now editing a book on Renaissance of Pan-Asia.

Research collaboration has also been initiated. RSIS recently become a member of the ASEAN+3 Research Group, a network of think tanks, which supports the ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers' Process. Last year, RSIS conducted research on the feasibility of issuing a basket currency in the region or the Asian Currency Unit.

RSIS and ADB jointly organized a meeting of the Network of Research Institutes and Think tanks in South Asia. The ADBI/RSIS/MFA (Singapore) also jointly organized a Regional Policy Workshop on Asian Economic Integration. The objective of the Policy Workshop was to share experiences between South Asia and East Asia.

 

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