1.ASEAN ( Association of South East Asian Nations)
· It is a political and economic organisation of 10 South-East Asian nations
· Formed in 1967
· Founding members: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand
· HQ : Jakarta, Indonesia
Current members are:
1. Indonesia
2. Malaysia
3. Philippines
4. Singapore
5. Thailand
6. Brunei
7. Cambodia
8. Laos
9. Myanmar (Burma)
10. Vietnam
Aim
o Accelerating economic growth, social progress, and socio-cultural evolution among its members,
o Protection of regional stability
o Providing a mechanism for member countries to resolve differences peacefully
‘The ASEAN Way’ means : Doctrine that the member countries will largely mind their own business when it comes to internal matters of member countries
· ASEAN Plus Three: Was created to improve existing ties with the China, Japan and South Korea.
· If the ASEAN nations were a single country, their combined economy would rank the 7th largest in the world
India:
Has and FTA with ASEAN (operational since 2010)
Shares border both land/marine
Large number of Indian origin people living in these countries
2.APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)
· It is a regional economic forum of 21 Pacific Rim countries
· Established in 1989
• HQ: Singapore
· APEC’s 21 members aim to promote free trade throughout the Asia- Pacific region
· APEC account for about half the world’s trade and almost 60% of global trade
· It established in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional trade blocs in other parts of the world
· To fears that highly industrialized Japan (a member of G8 ) would come to dominate economic activity in the Asia-Pacific region
· To establish new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe
· India has requested membership in APEC, and received initial support from the United States, Japan, Australia and Papua New Guinea. Officials have decided not to allow India to join for various reasons, considering that India does not border the Pacific Ocean, which all current members do. However, India was invited to be an observer for the first time in November 2011.
3. BBIN ( Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal)
·It is a sub-regional architecture of these four countries
·Aims to formulate, implement and review quadrilateral agreements across areas such as water resources
management, connectivity of power, transport, and infrastructure
4. BCIM Bangladesh-China-Inida-Myanmar
Aim: greater integration of trade and investment between the four countries
· BCIM economic corridor is an initiative conceptualised for significant gains through sub-regional economic co-operation with BCIM
· The multi-modal corridor will be the first expressway between India and China and will pass through Myanmar and Bangladesh
· BCIM evolved from ‘Kunming Initiative
5.BIMSTEC ( Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation)
· It is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia. Established in 1997 in Bangkok. Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand were founding members. Now it has seven members.
Headquarters is in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Present members :
1. Bangladesh
2. India
3. Myanmar
4. Sri Lanka
5. Thailand
6. Bhutan
7. Nepal
· The main objective of BIMSTEC is technological and economic cooperation among south Asian and south east Asian countries along the coast of the bay of Bengal . Commerce, investment, technology, tourism, human resource development, agriculture, fisheries, transport and communication, textiles, leather etc. have been included in it
· BIMSTEC uses the alphabetical order for chairmanship
6.BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa )
- Originally the first four were grouped as “BRIC” (or “the BRICs”), before the induction of South Africa in 2010.
- The BRICS members are all leading developing or newly industrialized countries, but they are distinguished by their large, sometimes fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional affairs; all five are G-20 members.
The five BRICS countries represent half of the world population; all five members are in the top 25 of the world by population.
- The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states.
- The bank is headquartered in Shanghai, China. The first regional office of the NDB will be opened in Johannesburg, South Africa.
7. G4
- Members : India, Brazil, Germany and Japan
All members support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council
- Each of these four countries have figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since the UN’s establishment.
Their economic and political influence has grown significantly in the last decades, reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5)
·G4 campaigns for U.N. Reforms, including more representation for developing countries, both in the permanent and non-permanent categories, in the UNSC
8.IBSA (for India-Brazil-South Africa )
- All are Developing Democracies.
- The forum provides the three countries with a platform to engage in discussions for cooperation in the field of agriculture, trade, culture, and defence among others.
- IBSA was formalised and launched through the adopti on of the “Brasilia Declaration.
- Brasilia Declaration (2003) : Approved urgent need for reforms in the United Nations, especially the Security Council.
9. G7
- The Group of 7 (G7) is a group consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- The European Union is also represented within the G7.
- These countries are the seven major advanced economies as reported by the International Monetary Fund.
- G7 countries represent more than 64% of the net global wealth
Common denominator among members is the economy and long-term political motives
10.The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)
- The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative and Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), is an international organisation consisting of coastal states bordering the Indian Ocean. The IORA is a regional forum, tripartite in nature, bringing together representatives of Government, Business and Academia, for promoting co-operation and closer interaction among them. It is based on the principles of Open Regionalism for strengthening Economic Cooperation particularly on Trade Facilitation and Investment, Promotion as well as Social Development of the region. The Coordinating Secretariat of IORA is located at Ebene, Mauritius.
- 21 member states : South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius,
Seychelles, Iran, Oman, UAE, Yemen, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Somalia.
- Maldives, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar are not members
- The organisation was first established as Indian Ocean Rim Initiative in Mauritius on March 1995 and formally launched in 1997 by the conclusion of a multilateral treaty known as the Charter of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation.
11.The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation
The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is an initiative by six countries – India and five ASEAN countries, namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam for cooperation in tourism, culture, education, as well as transport and communications. It was launched in 2000 at Vientiane, Lao PDR.
12.Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is an ambitious, comprehensive, and high-standard trade and investment agreement being negotiated between the United States and the European Union (EU). TTIP will help unlock opportunity for American families, workers, businesses, farmers and ranchers through increased access to European markets for Made-in-America goods and services. This will help to promote U.S. international competitiveness, jobs and growth.
Its main three broad areas are:
o market access;
o specific regulation; and
o broader rules and principle s and modes of co-operation
13.Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), or Shanghai Pact, is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. These countries, except for Uzbekistan had been members of the Shanghai Five, founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organisation. On July 10, 2015, the SCO decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members.
14.SAARC
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional international organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia. Its member states include.
Afghanistan,
Bhutan
Pakistan,
Bangladesh,
India,
Nepal,
Maldives,
Pakistan
Sri Lanka.
SAARC comprises 3% of the world’s area, 21% of the world's population and 3.8% of the global economy. SAARC was founded in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 8th December, 1985. Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu Nepal. The organization promotes development of economic and regional integration. It launched the South Asian free trade area in 2006. SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the United Nations as an observer and has developed links with multilateral entities, including the European Union.
15.OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental economic organization with 35 member countries, founded in 1960 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. The mission of the OECD is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world. It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members. Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.
The OECD headquartere at Paris, France. The OECD is funded by contributions from member states.
LIST OF MEMEBERS COUNTRIES
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Chile
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Korea
Latvia
Luxembourg
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
16.G20
The G20 or Group of Twenty is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies. It was founded in 1999 with the aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization. The G20 heads of government or heads of state have periodically conferred at summits since their initial meeting in 2008, and the group also hosts separate meetings of finance ministers and central bank governors. The G20 membership comprises a mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two-thirds of the world’s population, 85 per cent of global gross domestic product and over 75 per cent of global trade.
The work of G20 members is supported by several international organisations that provide policy advice. The G20 also regularly engages with non-government sectors. Engagement groups from business (B20), civil society (C20), labour (L20), think tanks (T20) and youth (Y20) are holding major events during the year, the outcomes of which will contribute to the deliberations of G20 leaders.
The heads of the G20 nations met semi-annually at G20 summits between 2009 and 2010.
Since the November 2011 Cannes summit, all G20 summits have been held annually.
17.OPEC
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization of 13 nations, founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela), and headquartered since 1965 in Vienna. countries accounted for an estimated 42 % of global oil production and 73 % of the world’s oil reserves, giving OPEC a major influence on global oil prices that were previously determined by American-dominated multinational oil companies.
Two-thirds of OPEC’s oil production and reserves are in its six Middle Eastern countries that surround the oil-rich Persian Gulf. The formation of OPEC marked a turning point toward national sovereignty over natural resources, and OPEC decisions have come to play a prominent role in the global oil market and international relations.
18.TPP
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States (until January 23, 2017) and Vietnam. The finalized proposal was signed on 4 February 2016 in Auckland, New Zealand, concluding seven years of negotiations. It currently cannot be ratified due to U.S. withdrawal from the agreement on 23 January 2017. The former Obama administration claimed that the agreement aimed to "promote economic growth; support the creation and retention of jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in the signatories; countries; and promote transparency, good governance, and enhanced labour and environmental protections. The TPP contains measures to lower both non-tariff and tariff barriers to trade, and establish an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism.
19.RCEP
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Brunei
Cambodia
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam and the six states with which ASEAN has existing free trade agreements
(Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).
RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. The agreement is scheduled to be finalized by the end of 2017. RCEP is viewed as an alternative to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed trade agreement which includes several Asian and American nations but excludes China and India.
