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The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report (APTIR) is a recurrent publication prepared by the Trade and Investment Division. It aims to deepen understanding of regional trends and developments in trade and investment; emerging issues in trade, investment and trade facilitation policies; and impacts of these policies on countries’ abilities to meet the challenges of achieving inclusive and sustainable development. With its theme of “Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities”, this year’s Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment report identifies challenges and opportunities for trade and investment in the region. The report concludes that with strengthened regional cooperation and the right policies, the region will be able to continue its strong trade-and investment-led growth. The report identifies areas of opportunity in trade and investment for regional economies such as intraregional trade and investment, trade in services and trade and investment in climate-smart goods and technologies. It offers three key sets of policy actions to turn those opportunities into reality. One is through measures and strategies aimed at reducing trade costs within the region as well as between the region and the rest of the world. While trade facilitation has become almost a household term, there are still many areas where trade facilitation policies have not been effective. The report focuses on these recurrent problems and spells out concrete actions for Asia-Pacific economies to consider. Secondly, since these and other policies are aimed at enabling firms to do business more easily, the report also explores the conditions necessary for SMEs to connect not only with one another but also to regional and global value chains in order to enhance exports. Finally, the report posits that the increasing number of regional trade agreements and the dynamic growth of trade among Asia-Pacific economies are not causally correlated and provides some examples why that might be the case. The report offers concrete policy responses at the national and regional levels for improving the governance of the noodle bowl of overlapping preferential trade agreements.

The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report (APTIR) is a recurrent publication prepared by the Trade and Investment Division. It aims to deepen understanding of regional trends and developments in trade and investment; emerging issues in trade, investment and trade facilitation policies; and impacts of these policies on countries’ abilities to meet the challenges of achieving inclusive and sustainable development. With its theme of “Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities”, this year’s Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment report identifies challenges and opportunities for trade and investment in the region. The report concludes that with strengthened regional cooperation and the right policies, the region will be able to continue its strong trade-and investment-led growth. The report identifies areas of opportunity in trade and investment for regional economies such as intraregional trade and investment, trade in services and trade and investment in climate-smart goods and technologies. It offers three key sets of policy actions to turn those opportunities into reality. One is through measures and strategies aimed at reducing trade costs within the region as well as between the region and the rest of the world. While trade facilitation has become almost a household term, there are still many areas where trade facilitation policies have not been effective. The report focuses on these recurrent problems and spells out concrete actions for Asia-Pacific economies to consider. Secondly, since these and other policies are aimed at enabling firms to do business more easily, the report also explores the conditions necessary for SMEs to connect not only with one another but also to regional and global value chains in order to enhance exports. Finally, the report posits that the increasing number of regional trade agreements and the dynamic growth of trade among Asia-Pacific economies are not causally correlated and provides some examples why that might be the case. The report offers concrete policy responses at the national and regional levels for improving the governance of the noodle bowl of overlapping preferential trade agreements.

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Trade, Investment and Innovation Division +66 2 288-1234 [email protected]