Steering Group of the Committee on
Regional Economic Cooperation
Fourteenth meeting
2-4 December 2002
Bangkok
ANNOTATED PROVISIONAL AGENDA
- Opening of the meeting
- Election of officers
- Adoption of the agenda
- Trade and
investment in South Asia and the Islamic Republic of Iran: issues
and policies at the national and subregional levels [E/ESCAP/SREC(14)/1/Rev.2]
Trade and investment are the driving forces of economic development
and are consequently a development policy priority for most developing
countries, including South Asian countries and the Islamic Republic
of Iran. However, the effective promotion of trade and investment
in some of these countries is constrained by various factors, such
as ongoing structural transformation, their status as least developed
countries, geographic isolation (being sealocked and landlocked)
or civil strife and other political constraints. Nevertheless, the
membership of some of the South Asian economies in the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), their rich resource
base and the existence of actual and potential economic complementarities
among individual countries also offer a range of opportunities that
need to be exploited to their full extent through the implementation
of effective national policies and subregional cooperation. South
Asian countries and the Islamic Republic of Iran have either applied
for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) or are already
WTO members and seek to further liberalize their trade and investment
regimes. However, experiences with trade and investment in the countries
concerned have revealed that the promotion of trade and investment
alone is not sufficient, as the facilitation of trade and investment
is also required. A document discussing the major issues involved
in the promotion and facilitation of trade and investment in South
Asia, including Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, will
be presented and discussed by three commentators from different
subregions.
- Intrasubregional
and intersubregional cooperation for enhanced trade and investment
flows within the context of the development of South Asia and the
Islamic Republic of Iran
[SREC(14)/INF.1]
While national policies are important, the enhancement of intraregional
trade and investment, and particularly of trade and investment flows
between countries in South Asia and the Islamic Republic of Iran
and countries outside the subregion, is of particular importance
as, with respect to the latter, countries outside the subregion
have continued to account for major flows of trade and investment
to and from South Asian countries and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Intersubregional and regional cooperation for enhanced trade and
investment flows are important not only for South Asia and the Islamic
Republic of Iran but for all subregions and countries in the Asian
and Pacific region. A paper will be presented which analyses trade
and investment flows among selected subregions, with a focus on
trade and investment flows between South Asia, the Islamic Republic
of Iran and other subregions in Asia and the Pacific, such as the
ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), East Asia (including China, Japan
and the Republic of Korea), Central Asia. Special attention will
be given to the role of the Bangkok Agreement, SAARC and other economic
cooperation frameworks, such as the Bangladesh-India-Myanmar-Sri
Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation and the Economic Cooperation
Organization, at the subregional and global levels. The paper will
present a quantitative analysis of trade patterns, flows and trade
complementarities among countries in South Asia and the Islamic
Republic of Iran and between those countries and selected countries
in other subregions. The paper will also discuss modalities and
present recommendations for promoting trade and investment flows
between South Asia and the Islamic Republic of Iran and between
other subregions in Asia and the Pacific and in the world at large
(the European Union, the United States of America and members of
the North American Free Trade Agreement), with a focus on formulating
practical recommendations for both government policy and private-sector
strategies. Particular attention will be given to the role of information
and communications technology, particularly e-commerce and the Internet,
the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), reducing
red tape and the role of multilateral organizations such as ESCAP.
The paper will be discussed by three commentators from different
subregions.
- Private
enterprise development for export promotion [E/ESCAP/SREC(14)/2]
Trade and investment are basically private sector-led activities.
As such, there are convincing arguments for Governments to retreat
from active economic intervention, in particular, in the context
of globalization and WTO liberalization commitments, and provide
an enabling environment for private-sector activity. In selected
subregions, such as South Asia and selected countries of the Greater
Mekong Subregion, public sector enterprises still play an important
role but are often inefficient and enjoy preferential treatment,
while the SME sector suffers from inadequate access to finance,
technology and human resources despite its actual and potential
contribution to gross domestic product, employment and exports.
It is now widely acknowledged that export promotion should be an
essential element of any economic development strategy. The recent
Asian financial crisis has not changed that perception. Keeping
in mind the new opportunities and challenges posed by China's accession
to WTO and its rapid economic development, a paper will be presented
which discusses at some length the issues involved in strengthening
the private sector, in particular SMEs, for export promotion, taking
into account important developments at the global and regional levels
over the last few years. The paper will be discussed by three commentators
from different subregions.
- Panel discussion on selected issues in realizing sustained
national and subregional economic development
Within the context of globalization in general and of trade and
investment promotion in particular, there are certain issues which
deserve special attention from all countries concerned. Under this
agenda item, a panel consisting of four representatives will give
brief presentations on the following issues which are essential
for realizing sustained national and subregional economic development:
(a) the relevance of globalization and the multilateral trading
system for geographically isolated small developing countries (landlocked
and sealocked); (b) intraregional trade and investment promotion:
lessons from AFTA; and (c) bridging the digital divide in Asia and
the Pacific: policies and strategies at the national and regional
levels.
- Organization
of future work in accordance with the new conference structure of
the Commission [E/ESCAP/SREC(14)/3]
At its fifty-eighth session, the Commission decided, by resolution
58/1 of 22 May 2002, to revise its conference structure, including
its thematic and sectoral priorities and subsidiary structure, consisting
of three thematic committees and their respective subcommittees.
The three thematic committees will meet biennially for a maximum
duration of three days for each session. It is planned that the
subcommittees will meet biennially in the intervals between sessions
of the committees, preferably in alternate years, for a maximum
duration of three days for each session. Since the new conference
structure will take effect in 2003, the first session of the Committee
on Managing Globalization will be held in the first half of 2003,
while the Subcommittee on International Trade and Investment will
convene its first session in 2004. The present meeting of the Steering
Group of the Committee on Regional Economic Cooperation will be
its last. The secretariat will present a note to serve as a basis
for discussion, which will cover organizational aspects of future
work in the area of trade and investment, including the transmission
of the report of the present meeting to the Commission at its fifty-ninth
session in 2003. The Steering Group may wish to offer its views
and comments with the aim of making the Subcommittee on International
Trade and Investment as responsive as possible in the context of
globalization and the rapidly changing economic and social environment
in the region.
- Other matters
- Adoption of the report
Last updated: 12 November 2002
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