Co-organized by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) & the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
This course is by invitation only for the nominated ASEAN Trade Facilitation Joint Consultative Committee (ATF-JCC) members.
This introductory course will direct participants from the ASEAN Member States to discover digital, sustainable, and resilient trade facilitation measures, as well as emerging issues for efficient trade facilitation.
In today's fast-paced and ever-changing global economy, trade facilitation is key to making international trade more efficient and inclusive. The WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) has provided a basic set of measures for all countries to implement, but we need to do more to make trade easier for all and more resilient to crises.
That's where Next Generation Trade Facilitation comes in! This course will introduce you to digital trade facilitation measures that go beyond the requirements of the WTO TFA. Participants will also discover sustainable trade facilitation measures that can support the effective participation in the trade of groups with special needs, such as SMEs and women traders. And based on the UNTF Survey (www.untfsurvey.org), participants will learn about trade finance facilitation measures and measures to be taken during and in preparation for a crisis, such as the recent COVID-19 crisis. Going beyond, the course will address prominent areas in shaping the next generation trade facilitation, including utilization of emerging technologies, electronic (e-commerce) facilitation and climate-smart trade facilitation.
Course format
The course is conducted as a facilitated online e-learning course. The expected time required to complete this course is approximately 3-6 hours for self-paced learning before the live sessions, plus 5.5 hours of interactive live sessions.
Online live sessions will be organized over two days.
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On 6 June, three sessions will cover emerging technologies, e-commerce and climate-smart trade facilitation.
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On 13 June, each country will present the next generation related activities and interest areas for advancing trade facilitation in their countries, followed by feedback from international experts. The discussions will also contribute to the Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation in the ASEAN 2023 Report.
Before the live sessions, the participants are expected to complete the online course modules at their own pace. There are 10 modules in total, and each module contains one main video (approximately 15 minutes) and supplementary materials (experts’ interviews and a list of reading materials). The participants are expected to take online quizzes. Participants with prior knowledge of trade facilitation and the WTO trade facilitation agreement may skip the first 3 video modules but directly take the quizzes for these 3 modules.