Will the extension of trade liberalisation and increases in foreign direct investment accompanying the process of regional integration and globalisation contribute over the long-term to a greater control over migration flows? To what extent can an acceleration in economic convergence and the implementation of measures facilitating the exchange of highly skilled labour be expected to promote sustainable development in the countries of high emigration potential? This publication seeks to give an answer to these questions. It highlights the contrasts which characterise the demographic and economic situations in Central and Eastern Europe, in the Mediterranean Basin, in North America and in Asia. It identifies the conditions which would favour greater regional integration and reduce over the long-term the incentives to emigrate: the implementation of public sector reforms; the development of the socio-economic infrastructure; the implementation of measures to improve the functioning of financial systems, to attract foreign direct investment and to promote technology transfer and innovation diffusion. Finally, it points to the geopolitical aspects of regional integration and the important role that the greater enhancement of human resources should play in future migration policies.
