In parallel with multilateral trade negotiations taking place within the WTO framework, negotiations aiming towards preferential trade agreements between smaller groups of countries have increased tremendously in the last decade or more. This phenomenon has been observed in various parts of the world, including in the Asia-Pacific region.

In view of the increasingly complex web of trade agreements that are being formed in the UNESCAP region, the Trade and Investment Division of UNESCAP has called this Expert Group Meeting to share views with distinguished experts on the current state of regionalism, and its future prospects, in Asia and the Pacific. The meeting will discuss how the various agreements could, in a WTO-consistent manner, contribute to increased trade and investment flows, poverty reduction and general economic development for countries in the region. In addition, the experts will assess what impediments may present themselves in getting these agreements to work positively for the region; for example, could the increasingly intricate nature of trade agreements in the region, each agreement with its own rules of origin, potentially act as a hindrance to trade flows? What are the cost implications to businesses of having to comply with myriad requirements of different trade agreements? Discussions will further explore the relationship between preferential trade agreements and the multilateral trading system, concentrating on how the interplay between bilateral, regional and multilateral agreements could affect the trade and welfare of countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

• Tentative programme



• Documents:
• Bangkok Agreement: Asessment of its potential and the revitalization process
• Overview, comparative evaluation and prognosis of bilateral trade agreements (BTAs)
  in Asia and the Pacific
• Implications of SAPTA on intraregional trade flows of the South Asian Region:
  An empirical assessment
• Trade liberalization, new regionalism and poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific
• Economic impact of RTAs in Asia and the Pacific