Growth Triangles Strategy and its Role in Regional Integration Process

Abstract

Regional integration is considered one of the most developed strategies to address difficulties in development—whether internal or external—in countries and regions all over the world. It is also considered a global phenomenon for a group of regional systems that increase interactions among their elements and create new forms of cooperation and organization. Regional integration is sought by those countries that wish to reach the highest levels of development in all fields in a short time. Mustering all efforts, adopting a variety of developmental strategies, and true commitment towards integration would help developing countries--which already suffer from a scarcity of resources—overcome all hardships. Growth triangles is an important strategy that can be adopted to decrease poverty, strike a balance in development rates, and provide better welfare.This research first explains growth triangles and its correlation with regional integration. It then analyzes the global experiences that relied on growth triangles taking into consideration the orientations and mechanisms of such experiences. The research concludes with a practical methodology for growth triangles: one that can be adopted by countries and regions interested in development as is the case of the southern region of the Syrian Arab Republic. Last, the paper suggests a set of growth triangles that might be adopted in accordance with the existence or non existence of development resources that act as an attraction for neighboring regions in a certain province.