In 2015, Lao PDR is virtually unrecognizable from what it was just a decade ago. A more open, more outward trade landscape has transformed the country from a closed-off backwater into a fast-growing developing country, complete with coffee shops, restaurants, and billboards lining the streets of...

This handbook intends to be a resource for those interested in trade policy reform, in Pakistan and elsewhere. It arose from the Pakistan trade and investment policy program (PTIPP). The PTIPP was designed to work on trade, competitiveness, and gender in Pakistan. This handbook focuses on two...

This report seeks to inform the policy dialogue on how to accelerate Paraguay's international economic integration and in turn its medium- and long-term growth prospects. It benchmarks Paraguay's global integration; analyzes trade, investment and competition policies and the quality of related...

MERCOSUR, the "Common Market of the Southern Cone," was established to liberalize the movement of goods and services, eliminate customs duties, and coordinate macroeconomic and sectoral polices. Competition policy has been the subject of coordination at the MERCOSUR level. This paper provides an...

This study investigates the economic impacts of accession to the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) by the new member countries of Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam. The trade policies of these countries are examined, and a series of quantitative analyses were undertaken to evaluate the...

OECD trade barriers did not play a significant role in Sub-Saharan Africa's declining position in world trade over the last three decades. The detrimental effects of the African countries' own policies, such as those that influence international transport costs, were considerably more important....

APEI member countries and Madagascar (APEI ) identified enhanced regional agricultural trade as a key priority. The matter was referred to the World Bank for further analysis which is presented in this report. Potential for increased agricultural exports from APEI+ countries to Mauritius and...

The initial hours and days after a humanitarian emergency are generally seen as the most important. Because they affect the rapid deployment of relief to people in need, international trade policies, and the way in which they are implemented, can make an enormous difference to the effectiveness...

Experience from previous global and food crises provides some guidance for appropriate trade responses during the crisis and those that are likely to undermine effective national and global responses. However, the speed, scale and nature of this crisis are unprecedented which requires thinking...