• TRADE AND INVESTMENT PUBLICATIONS
• SELECTED WORLDWIDE WEBSITES

Annual Report. December 2006. Available online (PDF-Format, 122 pages, 1.98 MB). World Trade Organization.
The new edition of the WTO Annual Report presents an overview of the activities of the WTO from the latest Ministerial Conference to the work of the different committees and bodies, and also facts and figures to illustrate the functioning of the organization. The report notes that today the real dynamism in trade is to be found in the developing world, where Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand all posted double digit growth in exports. Not only have these emerging markets flexed their growing muscles in the global market place, but Africa too has staked its claim to a bigger share of the pie by posting export growth in excess of 25 per cent in each of the past three years. Concerning the role of developing countries, the report mentions the formation of powerful negotiating groups like the G-90, the G-33 and the G-20 that illustrate that the WTO is an organization in which all Members can not only state their case, but can achieve meaningful objectives on their path towards development.
Accessed on 9 January
< http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/anrep_e/anrep06_e.pdf >

Banking Services for everyone? Barriers to Bank Access and use around the World. December 2006. Available online (PDF-Format, 60 pages, 451 KB). Policy Research Working Paper, World Bank.
Using information from 193 banks in 58 countries, the authors develop and analyze indicators of physical access, affordability, and eligibility barriers to deposit, loan and payment services. They find substantial cross-country variation in barriers to banking and show that in many countries these barriers can potentially exclude a significant share of the population from using banking services. Correlations with bank- and country-level variables show that bank size and the availability of physical infrastructure are the most robust predictors of barriers. Further, the authors find evidence that in more competitive, open, and transparent economies, and in countries with better contractual and informational frameworks, banks impose lower barriers. Finally, though foreign banks seem to charge higher fees than other banks, in foreign dominated banking systems fees are lower and it is easier to open bank accounts and to apply for loans. On the other hand, in systems that are predominantly Government-owned, customers pay lower fees but also face greater restrictions in terms of where to apply for loans and how long it takes to have applications processed.
Accessed on 9 January < http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/ >

GATS, Migration, and Labour Standards. 2006. Available online (PDF-Format, 39 pages, 530 KB). International Institute for Labour Studies, International Labour Organization (ILO).
This paper lays out the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) framework and the basis for negotiations and reviews the four modes of trade in services. It looks at the major demands of developing countries in the GATS Mode 4 negotiations, including a review of estimates of the potential benefits of the larger labour migration flows that could be expected if the demands were accepted. Further, it covers the ILO’s efforts to promote decent work in a globalizing world and discusses the fundamental differences between trade in goods and the migration of labour, including service providers. The conclusion deals with the major question raised by the GATS effort to erect a global regime for one type of labour migration, namely: what is the trade off between migrant numbers and migrant rights?
Accessed on 9 January
< http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/download/dp16506.pdf >

Geographical Indications as Trade-Related Intellectual Property. January 2007. Available online (PDF-Format, 42 pages, 1.2 MB). Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Initiative, UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo.
This paper starts out with a short overview on the linkages between intellectual property, trade and development. It then focuses on Geographical Indications (GI), using the TRIPS definition that defines GIs as indications (words, phrases, symbols, images) that identify a good as originating in the territory of a WTO Member, or region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. Focusing on the Asian context, the paper identifies the three most important properties of GIs, namely right of exclusion; advantage of premium; and consumer and producer protection. The paper also discusses a number of specific issues, namely GIs and human development; GIs and traditional knowledge; the agreement on TRIPS and GIs’ as well as the WTO negotiating proposals for extension of stronger protection for GIs.
Accessed on 9 January
< http://www.undprcc.lk/Publications/Publications/TRADE/GI_Paper_13_Dec.pdf >

Key Economic Development and Prospects in the Asia-Pacific Region 2007. 2006. Available online (PDF-Format, 36 pages, 744 KB). United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Key Economic Developments and Prospects in the Asia-Pacific Region 2007 provides an end-of-year report on the region’s economic performance, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of economies in the region. The report identifies three key issues to be watched closely by policymakers across the Asian and Pacific region in the coming months: On the positive side it mentions the revival of Japan. The report examines the impact of a resurgent Japan on the region’s trade, investments and growth prospects. As somewhat worrying for the region it identifies the concern that China is “overheating”. The report evaluates the claims of “overheating” and quantifies the impacts of a stronger-than-expected downturn in China. Finally, the report analyses the implications of recent volatility in the regional financial markets and assesses how well the regional economies are equipped to handle a financial sector downturn.
Accessed on 9 January < http://www.unescap.org/pdd/publications/key2007/key2007.pdf >

Liberalizing Cross-Border Capital Flows: How Effective Are Institutional Arrangements against Crisis in Southeast Asia. November 2006. Available online (PDF-Format, 55 pages, 908 KB). Working Paper Series on Regional Economic Integration No. 6; Office of Regional Economic Integration, ADB.
This paper examines capital controls in two ways. First, it assesses whether capital controls have an economic justification within the context of an economy’s and, in particular, its financial sector’s stage of development. It concludes that capital controls can be justified in countries with an immature financial sector and macroeconomic imbalances. Second, it presents a survey of current capital controls in ASEAN+3. It identifies three avenues for making controls more efficient: (i) a tax on capital inflows, or alternatively, a Tobin tax; (ii) a replacement of extensive administrative controls with stricter prudential standards for financial institutions; and (iii) a special treatment for Asian currency unit (ACU) operations, implying selective capital flow liberalization.
Accessed on 9 January < http://www.aric.adb.org/pdf/workingpaper/WP06_Steinherretal.pdf >

Rules of Origin and Local Content in East Asia. November 2006. Available online (PDF-Format, 38 pages, 492 KB). Discussion Paper No. 78, Institute of Developing Economies.
Rules of Origin (RoO) are an integral part of all trade rules. In order to be eligible for Common Effective Preferential Tariffs (CEPT) under AFTA and similar arrangements under the ASEAN-China FTA, a product must satisfy the conditions relative to local content. The paper tries to calculate local content as well as cumulative local content in East Asian economies, with use of the Asian International Input-Output Tables and investigates factors of change in local content by applying decomposition analysis. The paper finds that the cumulation rule increased local content of the electronics industry more significantly than local content of the automotive industry and that the contribution of the cumulation rule increased in the period 1990-2000, due to rising dependency on neighboring ASEAN countries and China.
Accessed on 9 January < http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Dp/pdf/078_kuroiwa.pdf >

Understanding the Latest Wave and Future Shape ff Regional Trade and Cooperation Agreements in Asia. November 2006. Available online (PDF-Format, 40 pages, 224 KB). Cesifo Working Paper No. 1856, CESifo Group.
Asia accounts for more than 30 per cent of world GDP and contributes half of the global growth in recent years. Despite high growth rates, Asia is still facing considerable socio-economic challenges. If Asia is to reemerge as a major power in the global economy and in order for the region to successfully address its own challenges and issues there is a need to make the region’s economies more integrated regionally and internationally. Following the recent global trend, Asia witnessed a wave of subregional and bilateral trade agreements. This paper analyzes the recent trends and patterns and nature of regional trade and cooperation agreements (RTCAs) in Asia and associated problems and prospects. It also attempts to understand the latest wave and the future shape of RTCAs and examines if these RTCAs provide the basis for a new Asia-wide cooperation or for the emergence of new regional trade in blocs of several subregional groupings.
Accessed on 9 January
< http://www.cesifo-group.de/pls/guestci/download/ >

http://www.chamber.lk/
Ceylon Chamber of Commerce
E-mail: info@chamber.lk
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce is a confederation of regional and sectoral chambers of commerce and industry, trade associations, employer organizations and bilateral business councils in Sri Lanka. It is the focal point for business contacts both locally and abroad and has specialized committees, affiliated associations and bilateral business councils. The chamber functions as an effective spokesman of the business sector. Its members serve on various institutions and committees set up by the Government as well as the private sector, either as chamber nominees or in their personal capacities.

http://www.consumersinternational.org/
Consumers International (CI)
E-mail: consint@consint.org, and consint@ciroap.org (Kuala Lumpur)
Consumers International is an independent, non-profit organization that supports, links and represents consumer groups and agencies all over the world. It has a membership of over 230 organizations in 113 countries and strives to promote a fairer society through defending the rights of all consumers, especially the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged by supporting and strengthening member organizations and the consumer movement in general and by campaigning at the international level for policies which respect consumer concerns. CI maintains four main offices, one of them in Kuala Lumpur. The goals of CI Kuala Lumpur are to spread the consumer movement throughout the Asian and Pacific region; to increase the capacity of members through training and education, advice and technical support, and research and information; to facilitate networking amongst members and with other civil society organizations and networks working in related areas; to keep members and network partners informed of CI's programme activities and of developments within CI; to consult members and represent their views in the formulation of CI's policies and programmes; to represent the consumer interest regionally and internationally; and to disseminate and promote the principles and policies of the consumer movement to the wider audience of the Asian and Pacific region.

http://www.dbj.go.jp/
Development Bank of Japan (DBJ)
The Development Bank of Japan provides long-term financing and other policy-based schemes to qualified projects as a supplement and inducement to the lending and other services provided by ordinary financial institutions. By doing so, it promotes the upgrading, vitalization and sustainable development of the economy and society; the realization of an enhanced quality of life; and the creation of self-reliant regions. Projects and loans are focus around three areas: 1) community development - contributing to the revitalization of local economies by joining regions in supporting solutions that draw on the advantages of each area; 2) environmental conservation and sustainable societies - helping to realize a sustainable, safe and secure society by supporting businesses that are committed to social responsibility; and 3) creation of new technologies and industries - stimulating the Japanese economy by utilizing knowledge and innovative financial methods to create new industries that will be the source of future prosperity.

http://www.dotasia.org/
DotAsia Organisation
E-mail: comments@dotasia.org
The DotAsia Organisation is a membership-based non-profit corporation located in Hong Kong, China that was created in March of 2004 for the purpose of submitting a proposal to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to operate a new top-level domain (TLD) registry for the “.Asia” TLD. The mission of the DotAsia Organisation is to sponsor, establish and operate a regional Internet namespace with global recognition and regional significance, dedicated to the needs of the Pan-Asia and Asia-Pacific Internet community; to reinvest surpluses in socio-technological advancement initiatives relevant to the Pan-Asia and Asia-Pacific Internet community; and to operate a viable non-profit initiative that is a technically advanced, world-class TLD registry for the Pan-Asia and Asia-Pacific community.

http://www.g-20.mre.gov.br/
G-20, the group of developing countries with special interest in agriculture
E-mail: g-20@mre.gov.br
The G-20 is a group of developing countries with a focus on agriculture, a central issue of the Doha Development Agenda. The group has a wide and balanced geographical representation, being currently integrated by 21 members countries: 6 from Asia – namely China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand; 5 from Africa and 10 from Latin America. The group was established to avoid a predetermined result at Cancun and to open up a space for negotiations in agriculture. In that occasion, the group’s main objective was to defend an outcome in the agricultural negotiations which would reflect the level of ambition of the Doha mandate and the interests of the developing countries. For this purpose, the group adopted a common position that was circulated as an official document of the WTO. After Cancun, the G-20 embarked in technical and political consultations with a view to injecting momentum in the negotiations, holding several meetings to discuss specific proposals in the context of the WTO agriculture negotiations and to prepare technical papers in support of the adopted common platform of the group.

http://www.hkshippers.org.hk/eng/index.asp
Hong Kong Shippers’ Council
E-mail: shippers@hkshippers.org.hk
The Hong Kong Shippers’ Council was established in 1967 to protect and promote the interests of Hong Kong, China exporters and importers, traders and manufacturers in matters relating to the transportation of merchandise by sea, land and air. The council has worked towards establishing a level playing field between shippers and service providers, such as the shipping lines and airfreight carriers. The council represents Hong Kong, China shippers overseas and is a member of regional and international shippers' councils like the Global Shippers’ Network and the Federation of ASEAN Shippers’ Councils (FASC). The Council works together with other shippers’ councils towards shaping the regulatory environment on issues relating to the shipping and transportation of goods on a local, regional and global level.

http://www.iraniantrade.org
Iranian Trade Association Inc. (ITA)
E-mail: Info@IranianTrade.org
The Iranian Trade Association Inc. is a United States-based independent, and non-profit business and networking organization that provides Iranian trade information, conference organization and Iranian-American grassroots advocacy mobilization to lift the United States trade sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Iranian Trade Association has been formed in order to promulgate the competitive advantage that a unified Iranian and international business community can have in the global marketplace. Through ITA, members can also keep up with new economic and business developments in the Islamic Republic of Iran. One of ITA's prime directives is to facilitate the reestablishment of trade relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States. ITA seeks to work with the United States Government, Iranian officials and various international organizations in rebuilding a productive dialogue that is in the interests of both economies.

http://www.kfsb.or.kr/english/
Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (KFSB)
The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business was established in 1962 as an advocate for small and medium-sized companies in order to protect their rights and benefits. KFSB offers a wide range of services to stimulate the growth and development of small and medium-sized businesses. It hopes to increase the global competitiveness of small and medium-size businesses of the Republic of Korea through technology and new management strategies and uses its resources and knowledge to help small and medium-size businesses use their untapped knowledge, innovation, and dynamic differences to make strides into global markets, create a society with balanced productivity.

http://world.wtca.org
World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)
E-mail: wtca@wtca.org
The mission of the World Trade Centers Association is to support the establishment and successful operation of individual World Trade Centers (WTC) as part of a worldwide alliance of WTCs. It is a non-profit, non-political association that fosters the WTC concept and develops inter-WTC cooperative programmes. WTCA membership includes nearly 300 WTCs in almost 100 countries. Local WTCs bring together business and Government involved in international trade, provides essential trade services and stimulates the economy of the region they serve by putting all the services associated with global commerce under one roof.

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.