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This brief highlights policies and procedures adopted by governments in South East Asia to increase better access to higher education among the lower socio-economic population groups. Increasing skills, knowledge, and competencies will create a competitive workforce for the manufacturing industry that is fast adopting Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) for increased production and viability. The brief also outlines the challenges faced in actualizing these policies. It highlights the impact of Covid-19 in accelerating technology use in higher education, as well as underscoring the increased gaps in access to higher education in the region due to Covid-19. The policy brief concludes with recommendations of best practices adopted in developed countries that are grounded in collaboration and sharing of resources.

South Asia is a region urgently seeking development, although it has failed in regional integration. It is the second least integrated region regarding the number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and can thus be recognised as a missing bloc in the global multilateral system. This study aims to focus on South Asian FTAs and explores the problems of the inter-relations and compatibility between the systemic and regional trade systems.

The study proposes a framework to benchmark the compatibility of South Asian FTAs with WTO rules. Primary data from 2000 to 2020, including descriptive analyses of reports, legal text of the FTAs, official documents and factual presentations, have been collected and analysed through thematic analysis using the proposed framework.

The study finds that, although South Asian FTAs meet most of the WTO requirements, they are not progressing toward facilitating and promoting trade. Data from 2000 to 2020 show us that South Asian FTAs have not significantly impacted trade between themselves. The study argues that, although South Asian FTAs fulfil some benchmarks, they show only a lukewarm interest in contributing to the international trading system as building blocs. It is therefore recommended that the case of South Asian trade liberalisation must be understood contextually and be given careful and exclusive attention by the WTO.

As such, this study is the first to claim that South Asian FTAs are not fully compatible with the WTO rules. They remain a missing regional bloc in the multilateral system, rather than a building bloc or a stumbling bloc, delaying the region’s opportunity to develop as a region and within the larger system.