| Background
Trade is a key vehicle for economic growth, elimination of poverty, and enhanced regional cooperation. The significant role of trade and trade facilitation for economic growth is emphasized in such major international documents as the Monterrey Consensus and the Almaty Programme of Action for Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries. Central Asia countries are confronted with a number of problems in their promotion of trade and trade facilitation measures such as divergent trade policies, procedures, standards and documents; lack of the requisite capacity to implement trade facilitation measures; and inadequacy of an integrated approach vis-?-vis information gathering and sharing for trade and transport in their international supply chains. UNECE and UNESCAP have fully observed these problems. This project provides technical assistance and capacity building programmes for the elimination of non-tariff barriers and procedural obstacles to trade as well as the need to streng then institutional support for international trade and supply chain management in the Central Asian countries.
Objectives
The project seeks
to increase the capacity of the
SPECA countries (Afghanistan, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) to
develop regional trade integration
and facilitation policies, and increase
their competitiveness in regional
and global markets through modern
trade facilitation techniques and
better regional cooperation. To
achieve this objective, the project
aims at better collaboration among
various country authorities; improved
information gathering and sharing;
adoption of international standards
and modern technological solutions;
collaboration in policy and strategy
formulation for a coordinated facilitation
of trade, transit, and electronic
business; which may include synchronization
of relevant WTO positions.
Participating
countries
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Planned activities
- Seminar on Single Window and Data Harmonization in Central Asia, Baku, Azerbaijan, 5-7 May 2008
- Establishment of SPECA Working Group on Trade;
- Identify specific problems currently faced by economic agents in Central Asia and conduct research to formulate and promote policy recommendations following an integrated approach to trade development, facilitation, and electronic business;
- Provide technical assistance to Governments in the areas of simplification, harmonization and automation of official procedures affecting trade;
- Convene a seminar to assess needs and facilitate the coordination of work in the countries;
- Organize training seminars on policy and facilitation issues, taking into account the specificity of the countries;
- Build a regional network in support of the above activities, using existing groups for trade facilitation and development such as national trade facilitation bodies;
- Organize training courses on technical facilitation issues, taking into account the specificity of the countries
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