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A. TRADE AND INVESTMENT PUBLICATIONS
Building a Dynamic Future: Roadmap
for Development 2007-2011. January
2007. Available online (PDF-Format, 50 pages,
2.62 MB). IMT-GT Secretariat and Asian Development
Bank (ADB).
During the first Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand–Growth
Triangle (IMT-GT) Summit held on 11 December
2005, the three leaders of the IMT–GT
member countries agreed that the IMT-GT
needs to be refocused, and that a 5-year
roadmap should be prepared to guide cooperative
efforts in the IMT–GT and to ensure
its sustainability, viability and vitality.
This first 5-year roadmap for the IMT-GT
has been prepared based on a series of consultations
and meetings with the various IMT–GT
stakeholders, including the private sector,
local Government officials and national
Government agencies in Indonesia, Malaysia
and Thailand. It provides both a framework
as well as a plan of action, with milestones
being specified to facilitate monitoring
and evaluation of progress, as well as to
ensure that follow-up measures are pursued.
Actual accomplishments in various programmes
and projects will be matched against targets
and planned actions in the course of implementing
the roadmap, and adjustments will be made
as required by the circumstances
Accessed on 17 September
< http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/IMT-Roadmap-Development/roadmap-development.pdf
>
Corporate Social Responsibility.
An Implementation Guide for Business.
2007. Available online (PDF-Format, 115
pages, 1.78 MB). International Institute
for Sustainable Development (IISD).
This guide is primarily intended as an
introduction to some of the existing Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) tools and
approaches which are currently being used.
In publishing this guide, IISD aims to
provide a useful starting point for accessing
the many CSR instruments currently available
in the marketplace. Governments, multilateral
organizations, non-governmental organizations
and other groups have devoted considerable
time and energy to the promotion of corporate
social responsibility giving rise to a
vast repository of CSR initiatives, instruments
and resources. It is hoped that businesses
and other organizations interested in
implementing a CSR approach will use this
guide as a point of departure for CSR
design and implementation. The guide reviews
key issues to consider, offers options
for addressing them and refers to many
specific tools that could be of assistance.
The purpose of this report is to provide
a framework for helping corporate executives,
managers and employees navigate across
the sea of existing CSR instruments.
Accessed on 30 August < http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2007/csr_guide.pdf
>
Guide to the Investment Regimes
of the APEC Member Economies.
September 2007. Available online (PDF-Format,
567 pages, 2.49 MB). APEC Business Advisory
Council (ABAC).
The sixth triennial edition of the APEC
Investment Guidebook has been revised
to help improve investment transparency
in the APEC Region. Developed by the APEC
Investment Experts Group (IEG) in conjunction
with the APEC Business Advisory Council,
the guidebook is primarily designed to
assist potential investors in the APEC
region. Its goal is to deepen business
understanding of individual investment
climates by providing clear, concise and
relevant information to potential and
existing investors. It is also designed
to address the policy makers who have
the task of developing an attractive environment
for foreign and domestic private sector
investors. It will help APEC Member Economies
to develop comparative frameworks for
evaluating the quality of policies that
can enhance investment opportunities.
Accessed on 17 September
< http://www.apecsec.org.sg/apec/news___media/media_releases/120907
>
Horticultural producers and supermarket
development in Indonesia. June
2007. Available online (PDF-File, 193 pages,
7.75 MB). World Bank.
The value of fresh fruits and vegetables
(FFV) output doubled in Indonesia over 1994-2004,
to become a 10 billion dollar industry.
Nearly all of the FFV market is domestic:
while imports of FFV nearly tripled over
that decade, but by today are still very
minor, accounting for about 3 percent of
FFV consumption in Indonesia (the same as
the developing country average). This study
focuses on the main vector of globalization
change on it, via the rapid rise of supermarkets,
in particular in the past five years. Key
features of these changes are as follows:
(a) as in other countries, supermarkets
in Indonesia have not penetrated FFV retail
as quickly as they did processed and semi-processed
foods, so that industry estimates of the
share of FFV retail stand at about 10-15
per cent share for supermarkets. This is
still minor, but up from nearly zero a decade
ago, and likely to continue to grow along
with the overall retail transformation.
Selling produce only began in earnest in
the past five years among modern retailers;
(b) the wholesale sector has been differentiating
and segmenting over the past decade, partly
independently of the retail transformation,
with the rise of large, and more capitalized,
wholesalers in rural areas, and the decline
of small field brokers; (c) recently there
have emerged specialized/dedicated wholesalers
focused on the supermarket and other modern
food industry segments.
Accessed on 30 August
< http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTINDONESIA/Resources/Publication/280016-1168483675167/Holtikultura_en.pdf
>
Infrastructure and Regional Cooperation.
September 2007. Available online (PDF-Format,
27 pages, 312 KB). ADB Institute Discussion
Paper No. 76, Asian Development Bank Institute
(ADBI).
This paper states that continuing Asia’s
extraordinary transformation will require
increasing attention on regional connectivity
and logistic systems. The article focuses
on the role of cross-border infrastructure
in the process of regional integration
in developing Asia. It argues that given
that most cross-border infrastructure
projects are very complex, actions will
need to be taken by various stakeholders:
Governments, the private sector, civil
society organizations, and multilateral
institutions.
Accessed on 17 September
< http://www.adbi.org/files/dp76.infrastructure.regional.cooperation.pdf
>
Labour laws in South Asia: The
need for an inclusive approach.
August 2007. Available online (PDF-Format,
35 pages, 343 KB). International Institute
for Labour Studies.
This discussion paper forms part of a
set of studies prepared in the framework
of a project on labour law and decent
work in low-income settings, which is
examining the effectiveness of labour
law in protecting workers in the developing
world. Changing patterns of production
and work, a weakening regulatory role
of the national state over the socio-economic
sphere and diminishing capacity of trade
unions for collective representation have
been identified as major challenges to
the protective function of labour law
today. Globalization, in its socio-economic,
political and ideological dimensions,
is considered as a key determinant of
these challenges. The intention of the
project is to contribute to this ongoing
reflection from the perspective of developing
countries. The present paper examines
common strands in the historical evolution
of labour laws in South Asia and identifies
certain key features such as the multiplicity
of laws combined with the virtual exclusion
of the majority of workers from the scope
of such protection. The analysis of the
actual capacity of labour law to deliver
protection to workers is accompanied by
an examination of current proposals to
reform the law in the region, particularly
India. The paper notes that claims for
‘flexibility’ in the labour
market have to be placed in the context
of the need to provide decent work for
the vast numbers of working people in
the region. The paper also deals with
the role of labour law in both providing
protection and ensuring equality for women
workers, specifically with reference to
its instrumental capacity to achieve gender
equality.
Accessed on 17 September
<
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/download/dp17607.pdf
>
Measuring Trade and Trade Potential:
A Survey. August 2007. Available
online (PDF-Format, 26 pages, 186 KB),
Asia Pacific Economic Papers No. 368;
Australia–Japan Research Centre,
Australian National University (ANU).
This paper provides a survey and a brief
critical review of the literature on the
widely used gravity models of trade, as
a prelude to the justification of its
use with the stochastic frontier methodology.
The important papers on the theoretical
foundations of the gravity model are reviewed
and related to papers applied to explain
determinants of trade flows. Then some
shortcomings of the gravity model are
discussed. The paper introduces the stochastic
frontier gravity model as a way of estimating
trade resistances and overcoming some
of the shortcomings of conventional gravity
models in their use for that purpose.
Accessed on 17 September
< http://www.eaber.org/intranet/documents/22/907/AJRC_Armstrong_07.pdf
>
Regionalism and trade facilitation:
a primer. March 2007. Available
online (PDF-Format, 36 pages, 169 KB).
Groupe d'Economie Mondiale (GEM); Government
of the United Kingdom - Department for
International Development (DFID).
This paper investigates when trade facilitation
reform should be undertaken at the regional
level. Looking at both efficiency and
implementation considerations, it confirms
the perception that the regional dimension
matters. Investigating where efficiency
gains can be made, this research explains
why national markets alone fail to produce
the full scale economies and positive
externalities of trade facilitation reform.
Network dimensions in transport, communication,
and financial dimensions, especially for
transit, information exchange and regulatory
cooperation are important domains where
regional public goods can be delivered.
Competition considerations also matter.
Secondly, because trade facilitation policies
need to address coordination and capacity
failures, but also because of the operational
complexity challenge, the choice of the
adequate platform for delivering reform
is crucial. The lessons are that regional
trade agreements offer good prospects
of comprehensive and effective reform
and can effectively complement multilateral
and national initiatives. Examples of
implementation of trade facilitation reform
in regional agreements do not, however,
seem to indicate that regional integration
approaches have been more successful than
under trade facilitation specific cooperation
agreements, or other efforts, multilateral
or unilateral. Regional trade facilitation
reform is important and by investigating
some of the reasons why regional intervention
could make a difference, this paper hopes
to provide policy makers with added insight
on what dimensions they should look at
when designing regional cooperation in
this area.
Accessed on 30 August
< http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=985254&download=yes
>
Shifting Paradigm of Regional Integration
in Asia. June 2007. Available online
(PDF-Format, 28 pages, 178 KB). CSGR Working
Paper Series 230/07; Centre for the Study
of Globalization and Regionalization (CSGR).
The objective of this paper is to examine
the prospects for and progress in economic
interdependence and regional integration
in Asia. In particular it focuses on the
changing scenario in integration of South
Asia into the rest of dynamic East and Southeast
Asia. With India emerging as a rapidly growing
economy and with enhanced interest in sub-regional
and regional integration taken by the South
Asian economies, novel intra-regional economic
ties have been evolving.
Accessed on 17 September
< http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/csgr/research/workingpapers/2007/wp23007.pdf
>
The potential impact of the Aid
for Trade Initiative. April 2007.
Available online (PDF-Format, 53 pages,
231 KB). G-24 Discussion Paper No. 45;
UNCTAD Project of Technical Support to
the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four
on International Monetary Affairs and
Development (G-24).
The Mandate for Aid for Trade (AfT) derives
from the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration
on Aid for Trade. This paper provides
an overview over the relationship of AfT
and then proceeds to discuss the analytic
rationale behind proposals for using aid
to support trade. The paper also describes
the evolution of support for AfT in the
WTO negotiations, including a background
to the presence of aid as an issue in
the Doha Round, how AfT emerged in the
Doha Round, and the AfT Task Force. The
next part discusses financial issues,
such as predictability, the conflicting
approaches to conditionality and to country-based
priorities and asks how much AfT is needed
and when it comes to allocating AfT –
what are the criteria, constraints and
eligibility. The paper concludes with
suggestions for the architecture of AfT
and a discussion of the future for AfT.
Accessed on 30 August < http://unctad.org/en/docs/gdsmdpbg2420073_en.pdf
>
B. SELECTED WORLDWIDE WEBSITES
http://www.asiasociety.org/
Asia Society
E-mail: asiasoc@asiasoc.org.au
Asia Society is a global and pan-Asian organization
working to strengthen relationships and
promote understanding among the people,
leaders, and institutions of the United
States of America and Asia. It seeks to
increase knowledge and enhance dialogue,
encourage creative expression, and generate
new ideas across the fields of policy, business,
education, arts, and culture. Founded in
1956, Asia Society is a non-partisan, non-profit
educational institution with offices in
Hong Kong, China; Houston; Los Angeles;
Manila; Melbourne; Mumbai; New York; San
Francisco; Shanghai and Washington, DC.
http://www.bancocentral.tl
Banking and Payments Authority (BPA),
Timor-Leste
E-mail: info@bancocentral.tl
The Banking and Payments Authority performs
the functions of a monetary authority. According
to the Constitution it will be succeeded
by the Central Bank of Timor-Leste. BPA
enjoys legal, operational, administrative,
and financial autonomy and aims to achieve
and maintain domestic price stability. Subordinated
to this primary objective the BPA fosters
the liquidity and solvency of a stable market-based
banking and financial system, executes the
foreign exchange policy of Timor-Leste,
promotes a safe, sound, and efficient payment
system, and supports the general economic
policies of the Government of Timor-Leste
http://www.csr.ru/
Centre for Strategic Research
(CSR), Russian Federation
E-mail: info@csr.ru
The Centre for Strategic Research works
to facilitate the nation’s successful
development by way of granting expert
and normative law support to the reforms
performed in the economy and in the social
sphere. It provides support to the strategic
decision-making at every stage; ranging
from problems definition and articulation
of conceptual proposals to the formulation
of specific laws and regulations and expert
support while they are being handled in
the Government and the Parliament and
their formal approval. Information on
the website includes news, discussions,
publications as well as other material
searchable by projects, topics, countries
and regions, and organizations.
http://www.bkpm.go.id
Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating
Board (BKPM)
E-mail: sysadm@bkpm.go.id
The Investment Coordinating Board (Badan
Koordinasi Penanaman Modal, BKPM) is an
investment service agency of the Government
created with the purpose to effectively
implement the enactment of law on foreign
as well as domestic investment. At the
time, BKPM is a non-departmental Government
agency serving under and directly responsible
to the President. BKPM’s main function
is to implement the Government mission
in the field of investment. In order to
carry out its main function, BKPM assesses
and formulates national investment policy;
coordinates and performs investment promotion;
coordinates functional activities in performing
its activities; coordinates the development
of investment activities among government
institutions; and carries out managerial
services in planning, administration,
organization, personnel, financial, archive,
encoding, supplies and logistic.
http://www.iog.ca/
Institute On Governance (IOG)
E-mail: info@iog.ca
The Institute on Governance is a non-profit
organization founded in 1990 to promote
effective governance. From the institute’s
perspective, governance comprises the
traditions, institutions and processes
that determine how power is exercised,
how citizens are given a voice, and how
decisions are made on issues of public
concern. IOG concentrates its work around
specific knowledge areas, including aboriginal
governance; accountability and performance
measurement; board governance; building
policy capacity; technology and governance;
values, ethics and risk; and international
programming.
http://www.internews.org
Internews Network
E-mail: info@internews.org
Internews works to improve access to information
for people around the world by fostering
independent media and promoting open communications
policies in the public interest. Internews’
programmes are built on the conviction
that providing people with access to vibrant,
diverse news and information empowers
them to participate effectively in their
communities, effect positive social change,
improve their living standards, and make
their voices heard. The Internews Network
has offices in 23 countries in Africa,
Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North
America. Internews activities include
training, production, media infrastructure,
media law and policy.
http://www.itu.int/cybersecurity/gateway/index.html
ITU Cybersecurity Gateway
The purpose of the Cybersecurity Gateway
is to provide an easy-to-use information
resource on national and international
cybersecurity-related initiatives worldwide.
In today's interconnected world of networks,
threats can now originate anywhere - the
collective cybersecurity depends on the
security practices of every connected
country, business, and citizen. The content
of the gateway is structured along the
following topics: information sharing,
watch and warning, industry standards
and solutions, laws and legislation, and
privacy and protection. Target groups
of the gateway are: citizens, Governments,
businesses and international organizations.
http://www.ead.gov.pk/index.htm
Ministry of Economic Affairs and
Statistics, Government of Pakistan
E-mail: mos@ead.gov.pk
The Economic Affairs Division is responsible
for assessment of requirements, programming
and negotiations of external economic
assistance related to the Government of
Pakistan and its constituent units from
foreign Governments and multilateral agencies.
The issues regarding external debt management
and matters relating to technical assistance
to foreign countries, credit to friendly
countries on lending/re-lending of foreign
loans and monitoring of aid utilization
are being handled by this division. The
Statistics Division is mandated to frame
policies and plans for statistical development
and improvement of statistical services
in the country. It provides a solid data
base to the planners, policy and decision
makers in the Government and researchers
and other data users in various socio-economic
sectors.
http://www.owit.org
Organization of Women in International
Trade (OWIT)
E-mail: info@owit.org
Organization of Women in International
Trade is a non-profit professional organization
designed to promote women doing business
in international trade by providing networking
and educational opportunities. OWIT aims
to provide a forum to learn about the
economic, legal, social and technological
issues related to international trade.
http://www.pngcci.org.pg
Papua New Guinea Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (PNGCCI)
E-mail: pngcci@global.net.pg
The Papua New Guinea Chamber of Commerce
and Industry is a non-stock, non-profit,
and non-governmental organization that
functions as representative and voice
of the business community in Papua New
Guinea. It is committed to the development
and growth of the country’s economy
to make it a better place for the people
who work and live in Papua New Guinea.
The website provides relevant information
for investors, including details on taxes,
investment incentives, qualifying goods
for export incentives, legislation relating
to the entry and activities of foreign
investors, contact details, and more.
Information is taken mainly from secondary
sources and UNESCAP accepts no responsibility
for its accuracy. Mention of any companies
and their products does not imply endorsement
by the United Nations.
The designations
employed and the presentation of the material
in this publication do not imply the expression
of any opinion whatsoever on the part of
the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning
the legal status of any country, territory,
city or area, or of its authorities, or
concerning the delimitation of its frontiers
or boundaries.
©2007 United Nations
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ISSUE
10/2007