The Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned on Tuesday the Asia and the Pacific region against "the threat of rising protectionism" to preserve the region's growth momentum.
In a new report released Tuesday, the Manila-based bank said that strengthening trade linkages and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) will contribute to Asia and the Pacific's growth and help improve resilience to emerging protectionism.
The report titled Asian Economic Integration Report 2016 examined current trends in trade, finance, migration, remittances, and other regional cooperation and integration issues, with a special chapter on the factors behind the growth of FDIs in the region.
Juzhong Zhuang, ADB's deputy chief economist, said trade and FDI have been key drivers of growth and prosperity in Asia and the Pacific region.
"The region should guard against the threat of rising protectionism and make concerted efforts to push for freer trade and better investment politics to preserve the region's growth momentum," Zhuang said.
The report noted that the anemic global economic recovery continues to weight on the region's trade growth, which continues to decelerate.
Last year, the report noted that trade growth in Asia slowed to 2.3 percent in 2015, or below the global average of 2.7 percent.
The report also highlighted that greater trade openness and FDI can strengthen the region's resilience to slow global growth, but countries need to improve their institutional quality, business environment, and policy effectiveness to encourage FDI.
Asia and the Pacific attracts almost a third of global FDI, among which more than half is now inter-regional, driven by the expansion of global and regional value chains.
"Greater trade openness through more regional trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties can also increase FDI," the report said.
