The Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), under the umbrella of the ESCAP Trade and Investment Division, in collaboration with the World Trade Organization (WTO) will organize a workshop on Emerging Trade Issues in Asia and the Pacific: Meeting Contemporary Policy Challenges from 4 to 5 April at the Rose Garden Riverside Hotel, Bangkok Thailand. This two-day workshop will focus on recent theoretical and empirical advances in trade, investment and integration. Participants will discuss contemporary trade issues, including non-tariff and behind-the-border barriers, intellectual property rights, determinants of competitiveness and trade liberalization impacts on inclusive growth. The workshop aims to use research findings for a better understanding of present day problems and policy challenges faced by developing Asia-Pacific countries seeking to create growth opportunities and increase intraregional trade and economic integration.

ESCAP and the Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) will organize the Tenth Meeting of the Working Group on Energy Planning and Policy (WG-EPP) in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea on 5 and 6 April to discuss policy issues related to subregional energy cooperation in North-East Asia. Government officials and energy experts from North-East Asian countries will attend the meeting which is part of the activities of the Intergovernmental Collaborative Mechanism for Energy Cooperation in North-East Asia. Along with the Working Group on Coal, the WG-EPP is one of two Working Groups set up by the Collaborative Mechanism. The meeting will examine the challenges of the power generation sector in North-East Asia as well as the joint study “Energy Demand Forecast and Energy Facility Demand Analysis”. The meeting will also discuss preparatory work for the fifth North-East Asia Government-Business Dialogue and the eighth session of the Senior Officials Committee, tentatively scheduled to be held in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia in November 2012.

Under the project ‘Promotion of Investment in the Asian Highway Network: Prefeasibility Studies for Priority Sections’, the ESCAP Transport Division and the Ministry of Construction of Myanmar are organizing a National Workshop on Asian Highway Investment Studies and Preparation of Project Proposals from 6 to 7 April in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. The Workshop is being organized as part of the overall plan for the development of the Asian Highway Network. The two-day Workshop aims to enhance capacity of government officials in preparing Asian Highway investment project proposals with a view to financing from different sources including through public-private partnership (PPP).

The ESCAP Trade and Investment Division, which functions as the Secretariat to the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), is organizing the 39th session of the APTA Standing Committee from 10 to 11 April at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC), Bangkok. Representatives from focal point ministries of APTA participating states (Bangladesh, China, India, Lao PDR, Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka) are expected to attend the session which will explore additional areas of cooperation, including a speedy conclusion of the fourth round of tariff concessions, mechanisms to address non-tariff measures, sectoral agreement of APTA Rules of Origin (ROO), ratification of Framework Agreements on trade facilitation, trade in services and investment, and promoting awareness of APTA in the region, including the business sector under APTA. Participating states will also hold bilateral meetings with Mongolia in preparation for its accession to APTA in the near future.

The ESCAP Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division, in cooperation with the National Commission of Nepal is organizing the Advocacy Training Workshop for LDCs in Achieving MDGs as Part of the Implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action in Kathmandu, Nepal from 18 to 20 April. The Workshop will focus on critical Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) issues for Nepal and identify solutions from ‘early achiever’ countries in the Asia-Pacific region. It will be attended by policymakers as well as representatives of civil society, private sector, media and academia in Nepal. The Workshop will (i) focus on government, civil society and private sector perspectives on challenges and opportunities in integrating MDGs in national development strategies; (ii) share good practices and lessons learned in the Asia-Pacific region; (iii) promote integration of MDGs into national development plans and strategies; and (iv) identify concrete action plans to integrate MDGs into national development strategies in Nepal, particularly in reducing hunger and child mortality, improving maternal health and improving water and basic sanitation.

ESCAP and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are organizing the Capacity Building Workshop on Single Window Implementation from 23 to 25 April in Seoul, Republic of Korea, to provide capacity building support to key stakeholders from Central Asian countries in implementing a Single Window, with a focus on creating an enabling legal environment. As part of the Workshop, participants will visit trade facilitation facilities such as an inland container depot and a customs office to witness application of trade facilitation measures in real time. More than 40 participants from 15 countries in Asia are expected to attend the workshop which is organized in cooperation with the Korea International Trade Association and the United Nations Network Experts for Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific (UNNExT).