There is a renewed interest in preferential trading agreements (PTAs) partly to face the challenge thrown by multi-lateral trade liberalisation and partly to benefit from the gains offered by PTAs, particularly RTAs. This book discusses the debate on the impact of PTAs on trade creation and trade diversion and whether PTAs are building block or stumbling block for multi-lateral trade liberalisation. While number of PTAs have grown in the world after WTO, Asia as a continent has not seen much progress towards regional integration.

The book analyses inter country, intra-Asia and extra-Asia trade for each country and for different formations of Asia to examine internal dynamics for integration. It then proceeds to draw implications of RTA in Asia on regional and global welfare.

Dr. Ramesh Chand (b. 1956) is currently Acting Director and Principal Economist at National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research New Delhi. Till recently he was Professor and Head - Agricultural Economics Unit at Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. He has worked earlier as Professor of Marketing at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He was Visiting Professor at Universiry of Wollongong, NSW Australia (2000) and Visiting Fellow at Institute of Developing Economies, Chiba Shi, Japan (2003). His Ph.D. thesis, submitted to Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, was selected for Jawaharlal Nehru Award of Indian Council of Agricultural Research in recognition of its outstanding Research contributions. 

Dr. Chand has worked as consultant for FAO, ESCAP, OECD, World Bank, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi and Government of Punjab. At present he is engaged in research on Trade Liberalisation, WTO and Asian Agriculture, Food Policy and Development Economics. Dr. Chand is author of five books and 60 research papers published in reputed national and international Journals.