Toward Regional Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the East Asian Seas

---

In an era where development issues concerning human security, health, and the environment transcend national boundaries, international cooperation has become more crucial than ever. This issue of the Development Research News explores this theme in which various facets of collaboration in addressing transnational and local concerns are presented, particularly in the areas of resource management, research, and policy development. The price of noncooperation is high, as the banner article on the East Asian Seas shows. In the absence of a coherent cooperative management arrangement, the unsustainable and illegal exploitation of resources in the South China Sea will continue. With or without territorial disputes, sustainable development should remain both a national and an international goal. A good example of mutual cooperation in development is regional cooperation in research and capacity building, as exemplified by the East Asian Development Network and the APEC Study Centers Consortium. This issue reports on the recent activities of these two regional research platforms. The other articles look at the positive economic outlook for the Philippines in the next two years and the dwindling numbers of out-of-school children—two optimistic scenarios that should serve as an impetus for the country to move forward. As the Philippines becomes integrated with its Southeast Asian neighbors in the ASEAN Economic Community, significant and sustained efforts to improve the country's competitiveness are a must. This calls for a dynamic teamwork between the government and the private sector, together with the civil society and the international community, to address the binding constraints to economic growth and inclusive development.