SOUTH-SOUTH ECONOMIC COOPERATION: MOTIVES, PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES Amitava Krishna Dutt Department of Political Science University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
[email protected] December 2013 Over the last fifty years or so, and especially in the last decade or so, calls for increases in South- South economic cooperation and interaction have intensified with a view to promoting Southern development. This paper examines the main motives behind this call and the analytical approaches underlying them, discusses whether recent trends in South-South interaction have fulfilled the expectations of its advocates, and explores the possibilities that exist for increasing such cooperation and interaction for Southern development. Prepared for presentation at an URPE session on South-South economic integration and development at the ASSA meetings in Philadelphia, January 4, 2014. 0 1. Introduction Calls for greater South-South economic cooperation leading to more economic interaction between less- developed countries (which are collectively called the South) in trade, capital movements, technology transfers, and other spheres, have a fairly long history. Ever since the independence of many Southern countries, and the growing recognition that trade with more-developed countries, the North, South-South trade was advocated by many scholars and policymakers focused on Southern development. Recently there have been renewed calls for greater South-South cooperation and interaction, especially through the promotion of South-South trade and capital flows (see, for instance, Asian Development Bank, 2011, Thrasher and Najam, 2012). A great deal of effort has been expended by Southern countries to increase South-South interaction, with Southern governments playing an important role in promoting regional integration within the South.