Launch of the Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011 , 25 July 2011

Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) Business Sector Meeting, 25 July 2011
The purpose of the APTA Business Sector meeting is to promote a platform for networking and to foster partnerships among the business sector of the APTA Participating States. This meeting will also provide an opportunity for the private sector of the APTA member States to enhance communications and collaboration with the Government Focal Points of the APTA Participating States and the APTA Secretariat of ESCAP regarding the utilization of the APTA to the maximum potential in order to benefit from promotion and expansion of and facilitating intra-regional trade in the near future.

GMS-BF Board of Directors Meeting, 25 July 2011

Expert Group Meeting on Regional Cooperation Mechanisms: Regional Agreement on Electronic Exchange of Trade Data and Documents, 25-26 July 2011
The purpose of the EGM is to discuss in details the feasibility and content of a regional cooperation mechanism for electronic exchange of trade data and documents. The need to study the feasibility of such a mechanism or agreement was one of the main recommendations of the Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum 2010, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A regional agreement on this issue can indeed be expected to facilitate interconnectivity and interoperability between the growing number of national single windows and related paperless trade facilities being developed in the region. It will also come in support of the implementation of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement Framework on Trade Facilitation. The EGM will bring together the Legal Advisory Group Members of the United Nations Network of Experts for Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific, as well as a small number of invited experts from developing country Governments of the region for in-depth discussions.


APCAEM Expert Group Meeting on Development of a Sustainable Agricultural Machinery and Farm Implements Testing Network in the Asia-Pacific Region, 26 July 2011

The EGM will see experts from Asia-Pacific and relevant international organizations undertaking initial discussion on identified mutual beneficial project(s) to enhance trade flows of farm machinery via the development of a regional network linking agricultural machinery testing stations for standards and protocols for the Asia-Pacific economies. Such project(s), when operationalised, would improve farmers’ access to safe, quality and affordable agricultural machinery and farm implements. The EGM will also be expected to formulate a concrete action plan leading to the formal establishment of such proposed Asia-Pacific network.

Launch of the World Trade Organization's World Trade Report 2011 on New Era Preferential Trade Agreements, 27 July 2011

The World Trade Organization will take advantage of the presence of a large number of trade and investment specialists attending the Trade and Investment Week to launch its World Trade Report 2011 in the Asia-Pacific region. This year's report will focus on preferential trade agreements, a topic of particular relevance for many ESCAP member States.

For information and enquiries, please contact:
Email: escap-tid@un.org
Tel: +66 2 2881395, Fax: +66 2 2881027