Cooperation models in the Eastern Asia (on the example of Japan)

Abstract

Limitations of the World Trade Organization system have pushed countries to intensify an independent cooperation agenda through development of bilateral relations outside the WTO. In the international economic space, from the geographical point of view, three basic trade blocs can be identified: the European bloc, the North American bloc and the East Asian bloc, with each having its own way of creating cooperation ties. In East Asia, the Big Three of Northeast Asia (the Republic of Korea, Japan and China) as well as Singapore play leading roles in intensification of cooperative ties. At the same time, Japan was one of the first states in the region that based its cooperation policy on several models that became a template for other East Asian countries. Thus, since 2003 the Republic of Korea has been implementing an FTA strategy and has been applying models of cooperation tested by Japan. Major models include: the «North-South» model, the «Flying Geese» paradigm, the «Core-Periphery» model and the «Hub-and-Spokes» model. It is important to note that models do not function separately, but form integration architecture for the countries, based on the objectives and specifics of cooperative ties. At the same time, the initiator in these forms of cooperation is the corporate sector: for example, keiretsu in Japan and chaebols in the Republic of Korea. Business needs are carried to the state/interstate level and can act as a trigger for establishment of regional trade agreements that allow create vertical and horizontal links determining stability of the international economic structure.