【正文】 d to other developing regions, such as South Asia, but still lags well behind developed countries (Arvis et al. 2007。 Brooks and Stone 2010).Opening up Asia39。s trade potential is very challenging. Costs for having interrupted road or railway connectivity across the region or for lack of facilitation of border trade can offset gains achieved from trade preferences as proposed under several FTAs and other arrangements. Therefore, the need for an environment to better enable trade that offers lower trade costs has gained momentum in Asia. However, a favorable regional climate to establish a modernday Silk Road is lacking. Hence, the agenda of Asian regional cooperation has to go beyond policy barriers by including nonpolicy barriers. For example, in order to facilitate seamless connectivity in Asia and accelerate the movement of goods and services in Asia and beyond, Asian countries have to integrate the different subregional transport corridors and modes (roads, rails, maritime, and air shipping). Moreover, they have to remove institutional bottlenecks and barriers that are raising costs and lowering regional petitiveness (Bhattacharyay and De 2009).Future DevelopmentAsia has presented itself in the past three decades as a region of fastgrowing economies, particularly among those with emerging markets. However, weak regional connectivity has bee one of the major barriers constraining the full potential of regional economic integration and growth. A true regional collaboration among Asian countries is very important for establishing Asiawide economic integration and supply chain connectivity. In order to build a highly integrated Asia, an innovative and prehensive approach is needed to address the physical infrastructure issues and nonphysical soft infrastructure issues. Whereas the former includes the airports, seaports, dry ports, roads, rail, inland waterways, maritime transport, and information and munication networks, the latter covers crossborder transit facilitation measures, customs clearance, and other facilitating policies and regulations. Addressing the issues above requires collaborative efforts among Asian countries, bilateral donor agencies, multilateral development banks, UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations, professional associations, and the private sector. Above aU, highlevel mitments and policy direction are crucial for the successful integration of logistics infrastructxires in the Asian region (Bhattacharyay and De 2009).Potentially what can be done and the positive outes that result from a wellconnected region are many and far reaching. In broader terms, the efficiency gains in an interconnected network for transport (and trade) would lead to more than just easier movement of goods。 overall, it would result in higher growth and greater prosperity. In fact, a 1 percentage point increase in the ratio of trade to GDP would lead to a 2 to 3 percent increase in ine per capita, while a 10 percent efficiency gain in supply chain connectivity would lift APEC39。s real GDP by US$21 billion per year and generate thousands of jobs (Centre for International Economics 2009).APEC has consistently made progress in reducing barriers to trade that are attheborder (., tariffs) and behindtheborder (., regulatory impediments). In 2009, in order to address the remaining frontier—namely acrosstheborder barriers—APEC launched a supply chain framework to specify what needs to be done to create an integrated supply chain and an interconnected region. The goal is clear: to achieve multimodal connectivity by air, land, and sea。 and to facilitate a seamless flow of goods, services, and people throughout the AsiaPacific (APEC 2010).In collaboration with business, academia, and government sectors, APEC has identified eight critical choke points in Asian supply chains and is focusing on relieving them (APEC 2009). Broadly, they relate to regulatory impediments, customs inefficiencies, and inadequate transport networks and infrastructure. Tackling these bottlenecks requires a coordinated and concerted effort by all APEC members and their alliances. Members of APEC are developing concrete action plans which have already been disclosed in May 2010, and full implementation wiU start in 2011 (APEC 2010).