South Asian nations continue to witness poor electricity access and power shortages amidst sufficient hydro-electric resources in the region. Cross border electricity trade between India-Nepal and India-Bhutan, and more recently India-Bangladesh highlight the growing cooperation in cross-border electricity trade. International experiences, particularly those in East Asia, Africa and Europe, highlight a variety of benefits from regional cooperation in power sector. The projects objective is to produce a background paper that highlights the drivers for developing a regional power market in South Asia, draws from international experiences and discusses existing and potential trading arrangements in the region. Paper published as an outcome of the project is "Prospects for Regional Cooperation on cross-Border Electricity Trade on South Asia."