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Policy Dialogue on Galvanizing South and South-East Asia Connectivity post-COVID19 UNESCAP South and South-West Asia Office and ICRIER

Policy Dialogue

Galvanizing South and South-East Asia Connectivity post-COVID19

UNESCAP South and South-West Asia Office and ICRIER

Friday, 22 January 2020 | 15:00-16:30 IST | (Virtual)

Lack of adequate and cost-effective cross-border transport options has been a major hindrance to the expansion of intra-regional trade in South Asia. Regional transport sector is burdened with multiple technical, infrastructural, operational, and policy challenges, as evidenced by poor ratings of subregional countries in global transport facilitation and logistics performance indicators.

The COVID 19 pandemic has brought inherent shortcomings in regional transport systems in South Asia to the fore. Pre-existing infrastructural and procedural bottlenecks, particularly lack of support systems for digital trade facilitation and the manual transshipment requirements, affected efforts for faster cargo inspection and clearance at border stations during the pandemic. Globally, international freight transport has been among the hardest hit sectors following the COVID-19 outbreak. Sharp contraction in trade demand and supply, triggered by the pandemic, has had a commensurate dampening impact on transport and logistics sectors. South Asia’s trade flows have been adversely affected, consequently worsening business environment for the subregional freight transport sector.

Fallouts from exposure to COVID-19 should be converted to an opportunity for the transport sector to reassess and devise an appropriate revival strategy. Short-term recovery strategies involving relief packages to the transport and logistics industries should be complemented by long-term capacity building reforms to make the recovery sustainable.  The subregion must adopt a wholistic approach to transport facilitation, while also broadening the boundaries its internal transport networks to connect with neighboring subregions with the aim of maximizing benefits of regional economic integration.

Linking with fast developing and advanced transport networks such as that of South-East Asia would be beneficial for South Asia in two important ways. First, it would help the subregion to emulate good practices and technological upgradation in bettering its own internal connectivity. Second, such linkages would substantially enhance traffic volumes and thereby improve commercial viability of subregional corridors.

With the objective of re-energising the policy discourse on connectivity between South and South-East Asia, UNESCAP and ICRIER are jointly organizing a webinar focusing on economic engagement between the BBIN and the CLMVT countries group of countries. The dialogue will help bring together experts, business representatives and policy makers in the region to engage on a wide array of issues relevant for strengthening and enhancing connectivity between the two sub-regions.

for more information, please contact

Subregional Office for South and South-West Asia +91 11 3097 3700 [email protected]