Examines the state of economic integration in South Asia and identifies potential areas for further strengthening subregional linkages. Focusing on the four pillars of ESCAP strategy to deepen regional cooperation and integration, the publication provides recommendations on policy actions...

Digital trade facilitation refers to the application of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) to simplify and automate international trade procedures. It is rapidly becoming essential to maintaining trade competitiveness and enabling effective participation in cross-border...

Digital trade is upending the way consumers and companies do business. Digital trade and e-commerce have become major drivers of economic development by enhancing productivity and lowering costs of trade in goods. But government policies have been slow to catch up with the increasing importance...

This paper proposes a new method to predict the impact of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) on trade and welfare taking the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement as a case study. Relying on a novel dataset of treaty texts covering all trade agreements notified to the WTO, we first...

Using a purposive online and paper-based survey and focus group discussions with select target groups, this study makes inferences about the level of awareness of the Filipino people on ASEAN; their perceived problems confronting the Philippines and ASEAN; and their aspirations, concerns, and...

This paper reviews integration among the eight African Regional Economic Communities by comparing their characteristics and progress with three other South-South Regional Integration Arrangements. Three conclusions emerge: (i) slow progress towards meeting overly ambitious objectives; (ii) small...

Der Handel zwischen der EU und Russland ist derzeit durch Sanktionen des Westens gegen Russland und gegenseitige Embargo-Maßnahmen schwer belastet, ohne dass eine sichtbare Veränderung der geostrategischen Ausrichtung Russlands erreicht wurde. Vielleicht erfordert ein Interessensausgleich...

East Asia is a region of great global significance, currently accounting for around 30% of the global economy by most measures, e.g. production, trade, investment and finance. It has also become increasingly integrated in various ways. Integration at the micro-level has steadily progressed since...

This paper reviews the different types of provisions explicitly addressing electronic commerce (e-commerce) in regional trade agreements (RTAs). The analysis covers the 275 RTAs currently in force and notified to the WTO as of May 2017. The analysis shows that e-commerce provisions have become...

The establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) is a major milestone in the long march of African integration. As foreseen in the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community (commonly known as the Abuja Treaty), which entered into force in 1994, the integration process is to...

Introduction and overview / Cho Lee-Jay, Lee Chang Jae -- Welcoming remarks / Yang Zhenbin -- Congratulatory remarks / Jiang Zhenghua -- Congratulatory remarks / Park Kwan-Yong -- Congratulatory remarks / Stephen Couper -- Keynote address / Yamaguchi Tsuyoshi -- PART I. Jilin Province's Economic...

The liberalization and protection of investment flows has become an increasingly indispensable pillar of economic integration. The objective of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the ways in which RTAs achieve such liberalization and protection. To this end, we have...

This paper documents the novel fact that Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) decrease bilateral trade imbalances as measured by conventional measure of the net export share in gross trade. While on average an RTA decreases bilateral trade imbalance by 7%, greater trade integration through a deeper...

This paper reviews the different types of provisions explicitly addressing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including micro firms (MSMEs), in regional trade agreements (RTAs). The analysis covers the 270 RTAs currently in force and notified to the WTO as of April 2016. The analysis shows...

The last 25 years have witnessed a rapid increase in regional trade agreements (RTAs). Although RTAs generally aim at lowering tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, an increasing number of trade agreements extend their scope to cover specific policy areas such as environmental protection and...

The integration of developing countries into the world trading system is an important development mechanism to reduce poverty in these countries. Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have recently spread in terms of quantity and type. Some of these, like the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)...