Home to more than 4.7 billion people—over half of humanity—Asia today is the most dynamic force in global growth, innovation, poverty reduction, and technological transformation. In recent decades, the region has lifted more than 1 billion people out of extreme poverty, sustained growth rates well above the global average, and built productive capacities that anchor global manufacturing, services, and, increasingly, frontier technologies. These achievements have arisen not from isolation or rivalry but from regional economic cooperation and integration across borders, markets, technologies, and institutions. That cooperation remains essential for the decades ahead.
Nearly 30 years ago, I had the privilege of working with the Asian Development Bank on a study titled Emerging Asia, which examined the region’s growth from 1965 to 1995 and projected its trajectory to 2025. The book’s central conclusion was optimistic: Asia’s rapid growth would continue, driven by openness to trade, investment in human capital, export-led development, and regional integration. That optimism was widely doubted at the time, especially since the book appeared just weeks before the Asian financial crisis of 1997. Yet history proved the optimism largely correct. Asia’s share of global output rose from roughly 30% in the mid-1990s to about 50% today, while per-capita incomes across the region have converged steadily toward advanced-economy levels. The lesson of the past 30 years is clear: when Asia integrates, cooperates, and invests in its people, growth follows. On that same basis, I remain optimistic about Asia’s future, provided the region continues on a path of cooperation, integration, and peace.
Trade and investment integration have been fundamental to Asia’s success. Since the 1980s, open trade regimes and dense regional supply chains have enabled economies to specialize, achieve scale economies, and climb technology ladders. Frameworks such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership—covering roughly 30% of global gross domestic product and trade—formalize these production networks and deepen interdependence. Even as the United States increasingly turns toward unilateral tariffs and protectionist measures, Asia’s continued commitment to open, rules-based trade has helped sustain growth and avoid dangerous fragmentation of the world economy.
Energy decarbonization is among Asia’s greatest economic challenges—and opportunities. The region is both the world’s largest energy consumer and its fastest-growing market for renewables. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) now installs more solar and wind capacity each year than any other country; India and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies are rapidly scaling clean-energy investment; and cross-border energy cooperation is gaining momentum. The ASEAN Power Grid, long identified as a strategic priority, exemplifies how integrated infrastructure, both physical and institutional, can lower costs, improve system reliability, and accelerate decarbonization. Far from constraining development, a clean and integrated power system will strengthen Asia’s energy security and long-term competitiveness.
Transport electrification represents a closely related frontier. Asia leads the world in electric vehicles, battery manufacturing, and high-speed rail, with the PRC, Japan, and the Republic of Korea at the forefront of advanced mobility and hydrogen-based shipping technologies. Coordinated standards, interoperable charging and refueling infrastructure, and joint innovation in maritime and aviation fuels will amplify these gains. Electrified transport delivers immediate benefits—cleaner air, reduced oil dependence, and lower operating costs—while strengthening regional connectivity.
Land use and ecosystem protection also demand regional cooperation. Asia’s rainforests, river basins, mountain systems, and coastal zones, including the Mekong Basin and the Himalayan watersheds, are among the most biodiverse and economically vital ecosystems on Earth. Their degradation threatens food security, livelihoods, and climate stability across borders. Cooperative approaches to forest protection, sustainable agriculture, and ecosystem restoration align national incentives with shared long-term benefits. Environmental stewardship is not ancillary to development—it is foundational to it.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and digital services are rapidly reshaping production systems, governance, and daily life. Asia is already a global leader in digital platforms, semiconductors, and AI applications. Yet the benefits of digital transformation will be maximized through cooperation on data governance, cybersecurity, interoperability, and talent mobility. Fragmented digital blocs undermine efficiency and trust, while integrated digital ecosystems can drive inclusive growth and innovation across the region.
Development finance has been—and will remain—central to Asia’s integration. For 6 decades, the Asian Development Bank has played a decisive role in financing infrastructure, human capital, and regional cooperation. New institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, as well as emerging arrangements such as the SCO Development Bank, complement this architecture by mobilizing long-term capital at scale. Together, these institutions lower borrowing costs, crowd in private investment, and support green and inclusive development across borders.
Regional payments systems and financial integration are another critical pillar. Efficient cross-border payments reduce transaction costs for trade, investment, and remittances, especially for small firms and migrant workers. The internationalization of the renminbi—alongside other regional currencies—can contribute constructively to Asia’s payments and monetary system by enhancing resilience, reducing currency mismatches, and diversifying settlement options in an uncertain global financial environment. Financial cooperation, especially across central banks, will strengthen financial integration while reducing vulnerability to financial shocks.
International cooperation in labor, learning, and research will underpin Asia’s green and digital growth. Student exchanges, joint research initiatives, mutual licensing of skills, and well-managed labor mobility will allow the region to harness its demographic diversity and pool resources for innovation. Cooperation in education, research, and innovation will boost productivity while deepening mutual understanding and regional solidarity.
Asia’s world-class innovation clusters—from the Greater Bay Area to Tokyo, Yokohama, Seoul, Shanghai, Bangalore, and others—are increasingly interconnected. Universities, startups, and industrial clusters collaborate across borders, accelerating technological diffusion. Innovation, at its core, is a cooperative endeavor, and Asia’s openness in both hardware and software innovation will continue to benefit the region and the world.
Ultimately, peace is the most essential public good. Peaceful relations between the PRC and India; among the PRC, Japan, and the Republic of Korea; and within Southeast Asia and beyond are prerequisites for continued prosperity. Asia’s great civilizational traditions—Confucianism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and others—each emphasize harmony, restraint, and compassion. Asia has known long periods of peace and flourishing exchange, including the centuries-long “Confucian peace” in East Asia. Economic integration does not guarantee peace, but it powerfully reinforces it.
Asia’s success is not Asia’s alone. Asia’s success offers a roadmap for Africa and other developing regions, serves as a key engine of global trade and growth, drives technological advance, and is indispensable to global environmental sustainability. In a fractured world, Asia’s experience affirms a simple truth: economic cooperation and integration are not idealism—they are the practical foundations of shared prosperity and peace.
Watch Jeffrey Sachs’ keynote speech on “Economic Cooperation and Integration as a Means to Achieving a High-Income Economy” at ADBI’s 2025 Annual Conference to learn more.
