Countries that implement trade facilitation reforms and enhance trade efficiency and connectivity are generally expected to attract more foreign direct investments. This paper is a first attempt to quantify the potential impact of trade facilitation on FDI flows. Using a unique bilateral dataset on FDI flows covering both OECD and developing economies in Asia and the Pacific, we estimate gravity models of FDI featuring relevant trade costs and trade facilitation indicators.
Connectivity is a cornerstone of regional economic cooperation and integration – and has become a major priority for the countries of Asia and the Pacific, especially in the context of efforts to find new drivers of regional economic growth, and to create additional domestic and aggregate regional demand.
Structural transformation, economic diversification and logistics are some of the issues explored in this new book from the Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT). The volume's essays use various methodologies to provide new perspectives on the region's growth and prospects. Individual chapter's focus on: trade policy in Nepal; logistics in Bangladesh and Thailand; Sri Lankan exports; and SMEs in Cambodia.
The book contains the following chapters:
I. Structural transformation and trade policy: Case of Nepal
by Paras Karel
The Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific is the oldest and most comprehensive annual review of economic and social development in Asia and the Pacific. This flagship publication of ESCAP outlines policies to sustain dynamic growth and to make it inclusive such as unlocking fiscal space to finance higher productive government spending and enhancing regional connectivity through stronger institutional coordination across the region.
On the occasion of the 70th ESCAP Commission Session, ESCAP launched the publication, entitled “Asia and the Pacific: A story of Transformation and Resurgence”. It provides an analytical narrative of the transformation of the region, one infested with pervasive hunger and deprivation to the Asian miracle that lifted billions of human beings out of extreme poverty. It tells how the region from a periphery became the centre of gravity for the world economy.
This report has been produced as part of the Pacific Climate Change and Migration (PCCM) Project entitled, ‘Enhancing the Capacity of Pacific Island Countries to Manage the Impacts of Climate Change on Migration’. The PCCM Project is a three year project
(2013-2016) funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
This report has been produced as part of the Pacific Climate Change and Migration (PCCM) Project entitled, ‘Enhancing the Capacity of Pacific Island Countries to Manage the Impacts of Climate Change on Migration’. The PCCM Project is a three year project (2013-2016) funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Asia-Pacific Statistics Newsletter,Second Quarter 2014, provides information on the Network for the Coordination of Statistical Training in Asia and the Pacific; features an interview with Mr Chris Ryan, new Regional Advisor on Statistics, Statistics Division, ESCAP; announces important events and meeting; and provides update on the areas of work.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement adopted by the WTO member countries at the Bali Ministerial Conference in December 2013 highlights the importance of trade facilitation for international trade and the global economy. This paper provides a unique set of data on the progress made by 29 countries in Asia and the Pacific in implementing various trade facilitation and paperless trade measures in 2013/14, as well as estimates of the benefits from moving forward with implementation.
This study aimed at identifying key factors affecting SME participation in direct export and international production networks (IPNs), both globally and in Asia and the Pacific. A global dataset of firm-level data from developing countries was analyzed to identify the main obstacles to establishment and operation of direct and indirect small and medium size exporters. Logit models of SME export and IPN participation revealed the importance of several trade facilitation and related factors.
