Trade facilitation measures as a critical component for ensuring inclusive development in Asia and Pacific, was the key focus of discussions at the Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum (APTFF) which ended in Bangkok today.
Organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in partnership with the Thailand Ministry of Commerce, the forum included Asia-Pacific policymakers, government officials, trade facilitation service providers, international organizations and development agencies from more than 35 countries.
Talks centred on the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade facilitation agreement and implications for the region, as well as sessions on agricultural trade facilitation, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), trade facilitation and inter-agency coordination for trade facilitation.
Dr. Ravi Ratnayake, Director of ESCAP’s Trade and Investment Division explained that whilst many countries in the Asia-Pacific region were top performers in terms of connectivity to international supply chains, intra-regional trade remains a challenge due to high trade costs between Asian subregions.
“Implementing strategic trade facilitation measures can promote economic growth and inclusive development by improving the access to more actors to international supply chains,” Dr. Ratnayake said, also congratulating Thailand on its trade facilitation performance, and pointing out that Thailand was among the top ten Asian countries in terms of international supply chain connectivity and among the top five Asian countries in terms of trade facilitation and paperless trade implementation.
Mr. Arjun Goswami, Director of ADB’s Office of Economic Regional Integration noted that the link between trade and economic growth is well-established and Asian economies have excelled in applying trade-led economic growth. Nevertheless, he said that poverty and widening inequality continue to be key issues within countries and across borders. While trade facilitation has an increasingly important role to play in addressing this, Mr. Goswami stressed the importance of cooperation and collaboration.
Within ASEAN, Thailand has been pushing for new drivers of common economic growth, Ms. Chutima Bunyapraphasara, Permanent Secretary of the Thai Ministry of Commerce explained, though unfavorable trade regulation and inadequate cooperation to harmonize customs are some of the barriers impeding economic and trade development in the Asia-Pacific region.
The forum also saw the launch of a key ADB-ESCAP publication, ‘Towards a National Integrated and Sustainable Trade and Transport Facilitation Monitoring Mechanism’, which aims to enable countries to establish a sustainable and affordable system to monitor trade facilitation on a regular basis. In this process, the bottlenecks identified would become essential input to formulate and prioritize recommendations for advancing trade facilitation.
Key recommendations developed during the forum included: improving trade facilitation in Asia and the Pacific through simplifying, harmonizing, standardizing and monitoring trade processes; improving information and communication technologies (ICT), and gaining sustainable commitment from collaborative private and public sector stakeholders. Participants underscored that inclusive and competitive trade relied on the dependability, efficiency and effectiveness of trade networks. Cutting down unproductive and complicated aspects of trade is crucial for the region.
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