In the wake of the recent ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) launch in 2010, this paper argues for the greater scholarly contribution of international development studies in the discourse of comparative education in East Asia. The argument is based on three premises. The first acknowledges the growing relations of East Asian countries to neighbouring low income nations. The second premise is to realise an urgent need to fill the existing research gap in the field of comparative education. The last responds to today's dominant theme, "globalisation", in the discourse of comparative education. The paper ends up in encouraging ongoing communication with researchers from different disciplines and societies, in order to seek mutual respect, share visions and find compatibility to contribute to the transformation of regional relations as well as increased well-being across the region.