Pascha, Werner

Abstract
The global financial crisis 2008/09 has led to a reappraisal of economic policies both on a national and on a multilateral level. In this paper, it is discussed whether proposals for Northeast Asian cooperation in development finance, particularly the idea to establish a Northeast Asian Development Bank, also deserve re-consideration. To do so, the author first traces various initiatives in Asia that have enjoyed some increased momentum after late 2008. For comparison, the paper also looks at responses to the crisis on the level of the European Union, the most established formal regional integration mechanism. It is found that the political-economic momentum has often increased due to the crisis; thus, meaningful ideas about intensified regional integration may now enjoy an unusual window of opportunity. The paper argues that in dynamic Northeast Asia, there are ample cross-border market externalities in fields like the environment, transport and energy/resources, in which state-supported developmental financing could play a beneficial role. One may even want to consider elements of a “Green New Deal” for the region, supported by a Northeast Asia Development Fund, using private infrastructure funds under trilateral investment guarantees. The region can now play a more pro-active role in developing institutional mechanisms for deeper cooperation than ever before.
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