Fostering Regional Cooperation and Integration for Recovery and Resilience

The coronavirus disease or COVID-19 has brought countries together to mitigate its spread and cushion its adverse consequences. Regional cooperation will be perhaps even more important in building an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable economic revival. This guidance note advocates wider, deeper, and more open regional cooperation and integration. Cooperation can be widened to include regional health security, trade in information and communication technology-enabled services, and financial safety nets, for example. It can be deepened to reach more stakeholders and sectors. It can also become more open through flexible collaboration and greater sharing of knowledge and expertise.