• TRADE AND INVESTMENT PUBLICATIONS
• SELECTED WORLDWIDE WEBSITES

2005 Report to Congress on China’s WTO Compliance by USTR. December 2005. Available on-line (PDF-Format, 101 pages, 1160 Kb). United States Trade Representative.
This report is prepared by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to the Congress of the United States of America on compliance by China with commitments made in connection with its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), including both multilateral commitments and any bilateral commitments made to the United States. It notes areas where progress has been achieved and underscores shortcomings as appropriate. It focuses on trade concerns raised by national stakeholders, for example businesses, workers and farmers which are affected by specific trade mechanisms, including as safeguards or anti-dumping cases.
Accessed on 13 December 2005 from:
<http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2005/asset_upload_file293_8580.pdf>

Corruption in China and Russia compared: different legacies of central planning. Analyzing the relationship between growth and corruption in transition economies. October 2005. (PDF-Format, 62 pages, 1107 Kb). Norwegian Institute for International Affairs.
During the first decade after markets became the major mechanisms of economic coordination in China and the area of the former Soviet Union (FSUA), corruption was perceived to increase in both. At the same time China experienced rapid growth while most countries in FSUA experienced steep declines. In this paper, the authors argue that this difference is difficult to explain with a conventional econometric framework. Instead a case-oriented approach with more institutional specification is chosen. In particular, the role of the former normative and institutional framework of central planning is explored. The paper describes some of the explanations of corruption as it occurred under central planning, including its limitations and how they may be linked to (negative or positive) growth mechanisms. In addition, the post-transition data on corruption and growth are linked to major political characteristics at the point of transition.
Accessed on 9 December 2005 from: <http://www.nupi.no/IPS/filestore/NUPIPaper679.pdf>

FDI and growth: a causal relationship. 2005. Available on-line (PDF-Format, 12 pages, 810 Kb). United Nations University/World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU/WIDER).
This paper examines the causal relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and economic growth by using an econometric methodology to study the direction of causality between the two variables. It examines these relationships for Chile, Malaysia and Thailand, which are all recipients of FDI with different macroeconomic environments, policy regimes and growth patterns. The paper notes that in view of the increasing need for additional foreign capital to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015, FDI is now becoming quite crucial for many developing countries. It may reduce adverse shocks to the poor that stem from financial instability and help to improve corporate governance and there is clear evidence that infrastructure, skills and macroeconomic stability are important components for attracting FDI. The paper concludes that economic growth causes FDI in the case of Chile, while for both Malaysia and Thailand, there is a strong evidence of a bidirectional causality between the two variables.
Accessed on 9 December 2005 from: <http://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/rps/rps2005/rp2005-25.pdf>

Foreign Insurers in China: Opportunity and risk. 2005. Available on-line (PDF-Format, 24 pages, 1357 Kb). KPMG/Reuters.
This report from KPMG and Reuters surveys the risks and opportunities for foreign companies in China’s insurance industry. To do successful insurance business in China requires hard work in understanding the market, the rules, the competition, and looking at new and innovative ways of doing business. The life market in particular shows signs of saturation. However, relative to its growing global economic importance and wealth, China is under-insured, both in the life and non-life sectors and still offers opportunities for growth.
Accessed on 9 December 2005 from:
<http://www.kpmg.com.hk/en/virtual_library/Financial_services/Foreign_insurers_in_China0507.pdf>

Information Economy Report 2005. October 2005. For Sale. Price: US$45 (Developed countries), US$18 (Developing countries). Available on-line (PDF-Format, 276 pages, 9917 Kb). UNCTAD.
The Information Economy Report looks at recent events, trends and processes in the area of information and communication technologies (ICT) and identifies their major implications for the economic and social prospects of developing countries. It provides information about the adoption of ICT by enterprises in developing countries, explores policy options that developing countries might consider in order to maximize the contribution of ICT-based business and commerce applications to their national development goals. It shows that, while in some developing regions the number of Internet users has grown substantially, overall the gap between developed and developing countries remains wide and that the quality of connections is just as important as their number. The report also examines the impact of ICT on the economic performance and trade competitiveness of developing countries and argues that there is an urgent need to explore policies and best practices to help enterprises use ICT to enhance their competitiveness.
Accessed on 9 December 2005 from: <http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Download.asp?docid=6479&lang=1&intItemID=3591>

Stunted and Distorted Industrialization in Myanmar. Discussion Paper No. 38. October 2005. Available on-line (PDF-Format, 50 pages, 586 Kb). Institute of Developing Economies.
This paper aims to provide a bird-eye’s view of industrial changes in Myanmar from the 1900s up to 2005. The paper argues that the industrial sector showed a preliminary development in the first half of the 1990s due to an “open door” policy and liberalization measures. However, a brief period of growth failed to effect changes in the economic fundamentals. It is argued that the industrial sector still suffers from poor power supplies, limited access to imported raw materials and machinery, exchange rate instability, limited credit, and frequent changes of government regulation. Furthermore, public ownership is still high in key infrastructure sectors, and has failed to provide sufficient services to private industries.
Accessed on 13 December 2005 from: <http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Dp/pdf/038_kudo.pdf>

Trade interests of the tsunami affected countries. October 2005. Available on-line (PDF-Format, 28 pages, 144 Kb). OECD.
Since the catastrophic Tsunami hit coastal areas around the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004, many have suggested that trade could be a more useful instrument to assist the recovery of affected countries than aid transfers alone. To probe this argument, this paper examines the economies of the summarizes trade measures of the EU and United States of America which aim to help the recovery. It is argued that, despite even when trade measures benefit the tsunami-affected countries overall, they may have limitations in delivering benefits directly to the affected people and region.
<http://www.olis.oecd.org/olis/2005doc.nsf/43bb6130e5e86e5fc12569fa005d004c/>

Viet Nam – Business: Viet Nam development report 2006. November 2005. Available on-line (PDF-Format, 210 pages, 14.82 Mb). World Bank.
The paper states that business development has been one of the main forces behind rapid poverty reduction in Viet Nam. Together with the redistribution of agricultural land, and the broad coverage of social services, it allowed a large fraction of the population to engage in more productive occupations and raise their living standards. However, insufficient availability of finance, difficulties in accessing land and continuous gaps in infrastructure are among the most important obstacles identified by entrepreneurs. It is argued that sustaining business development in Viet Nam requires the completion of the structural reform agenda, namely fully developing the land market, restructuring the financial sector, managing state assets in a more efficient and transparent manner and mobilizing resources for infrastructure development. Furthermore, global integration and domestic reforms are needed to sustain rapid economic growth while avoiding the accumulation of large contingent liabilities for the government.
Accessed on 13 December 2005 from:
<http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/>

What might the next emerging-market financial crisis look like? 2005. Available on-line (PDF-Format, 109 pages, 2837 Kb). Institute for International Economics (IIE).
The paper is a speculative exercise in thinking about what the next emerging-economy financial crisis might look like. The aim of the paper is neither to identify the one or two emerging economies most vulnerable to a crisis today nor to offer a probability assessment on the likelihood of a crisis this year. The paper instead offers some thoughts on the following question: If a crisis affecting a group of emerging economies were to take place sometime over the next three years, where would the crisis likely originate, how could it be transmitted to other economies, and which economies would likely be most affected by particular transmission or contagion mechanisms?
Accessed on 9 December 2005 from: <http://www.iie.com/publications/wp/wp05-7.pdf>

http://www.eu-bomca.org/
EU Border Management Programme for Central Asia
E-mail: office@eu-bomca.org
The EU Border Management Programme for Central Asia (BOMCA) is founded to assist Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in improving the effectiveness of the management of their borders and at the same time to make more open for travel and trade. BOMCA covers five sectors of intervention: legal and organizational framework, human resources and training, regional dogs training capacity, border management at airports and model border management in four pilot regions.
Accessed on 12 December 2005

http://www.eurasianet.org/
EurasiaNet
E-mail: jburke@eurasianet.org
EurasiaNet provides information and analysis about political, economic, environmental and social developments in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as the Russian Federation, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. The website offers additional features, including newsmaker interviews and book reviews. The website presents a variety of perspectives on contemporary developments, utilizing a network of correspondents based both in the West and in the region. The aim of EurasiaNet is to promote informed decision making among policy makers, as well as broadening interest in the region among the general public.
Accessed on 14 December 2005

http://www.itpcla.org/
Indonesian Trade Promotion Center
E-mail: info@itpcla.org
Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) is a non-profit governmental organization aiming to enhance the export of Indonesian products throughout the world. ITPC programmes of work are to organize and facilitate seminars, one-on-one business meetings between Indonesian exporters and North American buyers and to arrange the possibility of strategic alliances between Indonesian exporters and Japanese trading companies or distribution marketing channel. It provides business information and opportunities and conducts the exhibition of Indonesian products. The Center supports Indonesian exhibitors during exhibitions or other related trade promotion occasions. It helps to conduct direct marketing through an export directory, catalogues, etc. and supports Indonesian exporters to sell their products.
Accessed on 12 December 2005

http://www.isiri.com/about.htm
Institute of Standards and Industrial Research, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: info@isiri.com
The Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of the Islamic Republic of Iran (ISIRI) is mandated to develop and designate official standards for products. It determines and formulates national standards, conducts applied research to uplift standards level, upgrades the quality of domestic products and assists to achieve better production processes. ISIRI is a member of the International Standard Organization.
Accessed on 9 December 2005

http://www.thta.or.th/
Thai-Hong Kong Trade Association
Email : thai-hongkong@thta.or.th
The Thai-Hong Kong Trade Association (THTA) was established to promote the development of trade and investment between Thailand and Hong Kong, China. The Association aims to provide a point of exchange and coordination to improve business and opportunity among those engaged in trade, industry, investment, finance and other businesses between Thailand and Hong Kong, China. The main objectives of the Association are to foster effective businesses and social relations, to offer essential business services and relevant local information and experience necessary to successfully conduct business.
Accessed on 15 December 2005

http://www.eicindia.org/
The Export Inspection Council, India
The Export Inspection Council (EIC) is mandated to ensure a sound development of export trade of India through quality control and inspection as well as matters connected thereof. Its mission is to announce commodities which will be subject to quality control and/or inspection prior to export, establish standards of quality for such announced commodities, and specify the type of quality control and/or inspection to be applied to such commodities. Besides its advisory role, the Export Inspection Council, also exercises technical and administrative control over the five Export Inspection Agencies (EIAs) in Channai, Delhi, Kochi, Kolkata and Mumbai. The council issues certification of quality of export commodities through installation of quality assurance systems and certification of quality of food items for export through installation of food safety management system in the food processing units as well as certificates of origin to exporters.
Accessed on 7 December 2005

http://smepdo.org/
The National Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Promotion and Development Office, Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Email: info@smepdo.org
The objective of the National Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Promotion and Development Office (SMEPDO) of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is to promote the establishment and sustainable development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The website of SMEPDO provides Lao business people with a single access point to Government information and services as well as other information useful for establishing and developing business in the country.
Accessed on 2 December 2005

http://www.tobb.org.tr/eng/index.php
The Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchange of Turkey
Email: info@tobb.org.tr
The Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchange of Turkey (TOBB) aims at ensuring unity and solidarity between chambers and commodity exchanges, facilitating professional work of members, promoting honesty and confidence in the relations of members with one another and with the general public as well as preserving professional discipline and ethics. TOBB offers databases such as the Commodity Exchange Database and the Industrial Database as well as a library, a business opportunity system and further services.
Accessed on 13 December 2005

http://www.witsa.org/
World Information and Technology Services Alliance
E-mail: ahalvorsen@itaa.org
The World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) is a consortium of 67 information technology (IT) industry associations from economies around the world. WITSA members represent over 90 per cent of the world IT market. As the global voice of the IT industry, WITSA is dedicated to advocating policies that advance the industry’s growth and development; facilitating international trade and investment in IT products and services; strengthening WITSA’s national industry associations through the sharing of knowledge, experience, and critical information; providing members with a vast network of contacts in nearly every geographic region of the world; hosting the World Congress on IT; hosting the Global Public Policy Conference; and hosting the Global Information Security Summit. WITSA has increasingly assumed an advocacy role in international public policy, affecting the creation of a robust global information infrastructure.
Accessed on 2 December 2005

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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.