As the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos debates this week the pathways to re-building connectivity in an increasingly fragmented world economy, regionalism appears to be singled out increasingly as both a trend and a key instrument to address such challenges[1]. So if the world economy is indeed becoming increasingly regionalized, then what are the mechanisms of bringing the economies of these regions and continents closer together? Throughout our research forays of the past several years we tended to underscore the centrality of building cooperative platforms among the regional integration arrangements (RIAs/RTAs) as a way to forge greater connectivity in the evolving international environment[2]. We now look at another possible route by exploring the modalities of economic cooperation among the trans-continental economies of the globe. The goal within such a regionalized paradigm then is: an interconnected regionalized world, where connectivity lines run not only country-to-country, but also region-to-region (R2R).
The case for a common platform among the trans-continental economies with crucial roles for regional integration and inter-regional connectivity seems almost too obvious in the current conditions of mounting fragmentation. A key focus area for such a platform would be supply chain resilience and the mitigation of supply-side risks. Greater inter-connectedness across regions may allow for more alternatives and back-up options in global supply routes, while also creating mechanisms for connecting regional and global supply chains. In the sphere of infrastructural connectivity such a platform may target the operation of “corridors of corridors”, linking existing initiatives such as the BRI with regional connectivity projects. Such a platform may also advance a different mode of globalization that is built on the inter-connectedness across regions and continents rather than top-down impulses from global institutions.
As it turns out there are not that many economies that fit the strictest of definitions of a trans-continental country. Such transcontinental economies that lie at the junctures of main regions/continents of the world (with a significant presence in both continents) include Egypt (Africa/Asia), Turkey (Europe/Asia), Russia (Europe/Asia), Indonesia (Asia/Oceania), Kazakhstan (Europe/Asia). While there are a number of other economies that technically could be considered as trans-continental – the Denmark-Greenland connection being one of the more discussed these days – the above list of five economies largely exhausts the core of those sizeable trans-continental countries that have significant economic presence in both continents.
There is one part of the world, however, that is missing in this global equation and that is the Western Hemisphere of the Americas. In this respect, Panama is strictly speaking a trans-continental economy connecting North and South America as well as the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through the Panama Canal. My choice, however, of a Latin American economy that plays a key connectivity role between North America and South America, with a gateway to the Caribbean and the potential for expanding its bi-oceanic connectivity via new corridors is Colombia.
Together as a group these trans-regional and trans-continental economies may be denoted as TICKERs (Turkey, Indonesia, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Egypt and Russia) or more simply as Trans-continental emerging markets (TCEMs) – if they work together seamlessly on building connectivity in their respective juncture areas of the globe, the world economy could then be more in a position to operate as a well-ticking mechanism. Panama (North America/South America), Chile (the South America/Oceania connection) and a number of other trans-regional/trans-continental economies may form a broader TICKER+ circle of such “juncture economies” that play a crucial connectivity role in their respective geographies. Almost all TICKER economies are among the leaders in their respective regional integration arrangements – Indonesia in ASEAN, Russia and Kazakhstan in the Eurasian Economic Union, Egypt in the AfCFTA. Also, all trans-continental/trans-regional TICKERs are emerging market economies, the majority of them being what many experts would currently call “middle powers”.
Furthermore, all of these economies in varying degrees are related to the BRICS+ platform: Russia is the founding core member of BRICs, Egypt and Indonesia are recent core BRICS members, Kazakhstan is a BRICS partner economy, Turkey has actively participated in BRICS+ meetings and has expressed its interest in joining the bloc on several occasions, while Colombia joined the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) in mid-2025. In view of such a significant role that some of the BRICS economies play in the geographic linkages across the globe, there may be a case for a greater focus within BRICS+ accorded to inter-regional/trans-continental economic connectivity – indeed, this may be one of the BRICS+ economic cooperation tracks with active Turkish participation. On a related note, all TICKERs apart from Colombia are part of the emerging SCO-EAEU-ASEAN network – Kazakhstan and Russia are core members of the SCO as well as members of the Eurasian Economic Union, Egypt and Turkey are SCO’s dialogue partners, while Indonesia is the largest member of the ASEAN bloc.
In the end, the emergence of a platform that brings together emerging economies that are geographically positioned at key cross-continental juncture points may serve to upgrade global economic inter-connectedness. It may also incentivize these bridge economies to prioritize and foster their inter-regional connectivity potential by undertaking common initiatives in this area that may be regional or global in scope. This is then one of the ways to stitch the global economy together as its evolves in the direction of an increasingly regionalized economic landscape. Another important route is the “integration of integrations” that brings the regional economic blocs closer – in this respect one may observe that just like at the country level there are also trans-continental regional integration arrangements such as the Eurasian Economic Union, CPTPP or RCEP. And contrary to the disappointment observed in Davos these days over the risks of fragmentation of the world economy, such regional trends may in fact prove to be the much-needed re-configuration for the globalization process to advance forward in a more sustainable and balanced mode. As the English saying goes, “a stitch in time saves nine”.
[1] https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/global-trade-globalization-resilience-adaption/
https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/12/regional-cooperation-better-global-expert-survey
[2] https://brics-plus-analytics.org/re-imagining-the-world-economy-through-the-lens-of-regionalism/
Yaroslav Lissovolik, Founder, BRICS+ Analytics
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