ARTNeT Research programme 2008-9 (Phase II)

Based on the recommendations of the regional consultation held in preparation for ARTNeT Phase II held on 16 July 2007, as well as various consultations and feedback received during the year from policy makers and other stakeholders during the year, ARTNeT Phase II (2008-10) research is expected to focus on the following three priority themes: (1) trade, investment and domestic policy coherence; (2) trade facilitation and development of related services; and (3) multilateral trade liberalization and regional integration (for details, see “ARTNeT Phase II Research Programme: Thematic Areas for Regional studies”. While regional team-based research studies will be emphasized, ARTNeT will continue to support short-term studies, mainly as part of its capacity building objectives.

Following the Multi-stakeholder Steering Committee Meeting held on 12 December 2007, three regional studies have been approved for implementation in 2008/9 as follows:

• An Evaluation of the Development Impact of Information Technology in Trade Facilitation [team leader: CATIF, University of the Philippines]
• Production Networks and Regional Integration in East Asia: The Way Forward [team leader: CSIS, Indonesia]
• Towards more coherent trade and investment policy frameworks for development

• Export of Services and Economic Growth: Needs and Opportunities for the GMS [team leader: Khin Maung Nyunt, Mae Fah Luang University]
• Political Economy of GMS Regional Integration: Stakeholder Mapping and Analysis (overview)
• Improving the Competitiveness of Selected Priority Sectors in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam

ARTNeT Research Programme 2006-2007

This research programme was approved during the Third ARTNeT Consultative Meeting held in Macao, China on 1-2 November 2006. The meeting decided to consolidate the research efforts undertaken during the previous two years and to support follow-up studies on the thematic study on trade facilitation and the regional studies on agriculture and services trade liberalization. In addition, an exploratory regional study on trade and investment was approved, culminating with an expert group meeting on designing better and more coherent trade and investment policies in developing countries.

• Regional study on Trade and Investment Linkages and Policy Coordination (overview)
  The study included analysis of investment provisions in preferential trade agreements and an exploration of the interactions between bilateral trade and FDI flows, as well as country studies, e.g., on the effect of trade and investment liberalization on SMEs in Indonesia and on barriers to trade and investment in education services in Malaysia (See working papers No. 42, 43, 45, 46 and 49). Following discussion of preliminary findings during a regional ARTNeT consultative meeting of researchers and policymakers on trade and investment policy linkages and coordination in July 2007 and an ESCAP Expert Group Meeting on Policy Coherence in September 2007, selected ARTNeT papers were published in ESCAP (2007), "Toward Coherent Policy Frameworks: Understanding Trade and Investment Linkages", Trade and Investment Studies No. 62, United Nations, New York.
  •   ARTNeT Trade and Investment Research Group (restricted)
• Other studies:
  • A Study on Nepalese Women’s International Labor Migration and the Impact of their Remittance on Poverty Reduction (See ARTNeT working paper No. 44)
  • Performance of Export-Oriented small and medium manufacturing enterprises in Viet Nam
  • Impacts of smuggling and under-invoicing on Indonesian Manufacturing Competitive Advantage in domestic market
  • The impact of ASEAN trade liberalization on macroeconomics and agricultural industries in ASEAN countries and income distribution in Indonesia
  • Agricultural Trade Liberalisation under AFTA: A Case Study of its Impact on Some Vegetable Commodities
  • The Transit Regime of South Asian Countries: WTO Rules and Development

ARTNeT Research Programme 2005-2006

The updated ARTNeT research programme was approved during the Second ARTNeT Consultative Meeting held in Macao, China, on 6-7 October 2005. The Meeting decided to continue the thematic study on trade facilitation and to begin a new regional study on trade liberalization in services. It was also agreed that a number of short-term research studies would be conducted on selected focus areas, including WTO, Mode 4 and supply-side issues.

• Thematic study on trade facilitation - Year 2 (overview)
  The second year of research focused on trade facilitation beyond the negotiations, in particular (1) trade facilitation and regional integration, (2) customs valuation and implementation of the related WTO agreement, and (3) trade facilitation and logistics services liberalization (See ARTNeT working papers No. 16, 17, 18, 19, 25, 27, 28 and 50). Following a UNDP/ESCAP ARTNeT regional consultative meeting of researchers and policymakers on trade facilitation in August 2006, the papers were edited and published by ESCAP, in cooperation with UNDP, in a book entitled "Trade Facilitation beyond the Multilateral Trade Negotiations: Regional Practices, Customs Valuation and other Emerging Issues".
• Regional study on services trade liberalization (overview)
  ARTNeT Services Trade Liberalization Research Group (restricted)
• Short-term studies:
• Promoting exports: Some lessons from the Indonesian manufacturing sector (see ARTNeT working paper No. 33)
• Institutional structure and trade in Pacific Island countries (see ARTNeT working paper No. 20)
• Trade liberalization and development in the ICT sector: Impact on household welfare in Viet Nam (see ARTNeT working paper No. 32)
• Services-manufacturing production links: Has liberalization tightened the screws?
• Assessing barriers to trade in education services in developing ESCAP countries: an empirical analysis
• Enhancing the Movement of Natural Persons in the ASEAN Region: Prospect and Constraints (see ARTNeT working paper No. 23)
• Utilization rates of preferential trade agreements: Sri Lanka’s Experience (see ARTNeT working paper No. 29)
• Anti-dumping, Countervailing Duties and Other Defensive Measures: Trends in Asia-Pacific and Lessons for Least Developed Countries

ARTNeT Research Programme 2004-2005

The 2004-05 ARTNeT research programme endorsed by trade policy makers during the First Consultative Meeting of ARTNeT consists mainly of (1) a thematic study on “trade facilitation: WTO negotiations and beyond”, (2) a regional study on trade liberalization and agreements focusing on the agricultural sector, and (3)a number of short-term studies on topics ranging from supply-side capacity building to WTO negotiations on special and differential treatment.

• Thematic study on trade facilitation - Year 1 (overview)
  The first year of research focused on the cost of and need for selected trade facilitation measures ibeing discussed by the WTO Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation. Five country studies were conducted (see ARTNeT working papers No. 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10) as well as one international expert survey on the cost of implementation of selected trade facilitation measures (see ARTNeT working paper No. 3).
• Regional study on agricultural trade liberalization trends
  ARTNeT Ag. Trade Liberalization Research Group (restricted)
• Short-term studies:
  • Trade research institutions in Asia-Pacific: capacity building needs in developing countries (see ARTNeT working paper No. 1)
  • Explaining the supply-side constraints to export-led growth in the Pacific islands countries (see ARTNeT working paper No. 2)
  • Investment liberalization strategies in the service sector: lessons for domestic health service sector of LDCs in Asia and the Pacific
  • Study on LDCs interest in the proposed changes to the Special and Differential Treatment at the WTO (see ARTNeT working paper No.13)