Organised by the ESCAP and TTCSP, with support of ARTNeT and its institutional members, ERIA, ADBI and other partners, the Summit will provide a platform for learning, exchange of practices and incubation of new ideas and approaches to sustainable development for diverse group of economies amidst the great disruptors. It will also provide an opportunity to discuss issues related to establishment or strengthening the think tank institutions in support of the long-term evidence-based policymaking. Finally, it is an opportunity for representatives of ESCAP member States’ Governments to meet other partners, think tanks and policy leaders engaged in identifying options for sustainable development of the region for claiming the Asian Century. More...

The Forum will highlight keynote addresses on selected sub-themes including business and human rights, rural economic and community-based development, aviation industry, entrepreneurship, trades and investment. There will be parallel sessions to present applied research papers. The Forum strives to feature the identification of and proposals for bridging inter- and intra-regional development gaps in the ASEAN region, to contribute to policy making that looks at holistic and bottom-up approach within the region, to promote meaningful discourse on AEC that goes beyond economic imperatives and to highlight the importance of social forces in promoting ASEAN community. More...

ESCAP-ARTNeT-ITD Trade Facilitation for Sustainable Development Workshop 2019
Bangkok; 23-26 September 2019
This workshop contributed to building the capacity of government officials on implementing trade facilitation and paperless trade initiatives and enabling them to more effectively support or participate in the work of National Committees on Trade Facilitation or related inter-agency bodies. The workshop presented an update on the state of implementation of key trade facilitation and paperless trade measures in the region. Many key measures and instruments on trade facilitation were discussed, including the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and the new Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific. On practical implementation, participants were also learning how to conduct a Business Process Analysis (BPA) to simplify trade procedures and about emerging topics on trade facilitation in the context of logistics management, gender specific dimensions of trade facilitation and e-commerce technical issues. More...

The 9th Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum focused on how digital and sustainable trade facilitation measures and practices can bring prosperity to the Asia-Pacific region. It was organized by the ARTNeT partners the ESCAP and ADB, in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce, India and Confederation of Indian Industry. Over 270 participants from more than 30 countries at the biennial Forum shared experiences and perspectives on different aspects of trade facilitation for sustainable development, including trade finance, cross-border ecommerce, paperless trade and innovative applications of emerging technologies.

The Forum discussed results of a new Global Survey on the progress made by countries in implementing trade facilitation measures and how to address remaining challenges in this area. It also launched a joint ESCAP-ADB Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Report 2019 with a theme chapter of “Bridging Trade Finance Gaps through Technology”. Three Trade Facilitation innovation Awards were also shared in the closing session. More...

While the free cross-border movement of data is essential to many aspects of international trade, several countries have imposed restrictions on these data flows. Professor Andrew Mitchell, Melbourne Law School, Director of an ARTNeT institutional member, Global Economic Law Network, Director of Studies (International Economic Law) in the Melbourne Law Masters, and a member of the Indicative List of Panelists to hear WTO disputes, gave a presentation on “Regulating  Cross-Border Data Flows in a Data-Driven World” on 9 September 2019 in ESCAP, Bangkok. By sharing his experience as a researcher as well as a practitioner, he argues that reformed WTO rules, which take account of the policy challenges of the data-driven economy, are required. These reforms would facilitate internet openness while ensuring consumer and business trust, promoting digital inclusion of developing countries, and incorporating clear exceptions for legitimate domestic policies. More...

To help countries benchmark and reduce the time and cost of trading across border, the UN Regional Commissions jointly conduct the UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation. The Survey currently covers 128 economies around the globe, and 53 measures related to the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), as well as emerging regional and global initiatives on paperless trade or e-trade, such as the recent Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific (FA-CPT). The Survey leads to the production of a Global Report and five Regional Reports, which aim at providing insightful information for policy makers to harness trade as a key means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. More...