The authors, Mario Larch and Yoto V. Yotov, employ the structural model of trade and investment from Anderson, Larch and Yotov (2017) in order to quantify the impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and trade liberalization on exports and real GDP per capita in the Asia-Pacific region. Using a dataset of 89 countries for 2011, which covers more than 97 percent of the trade and investment activity in the ESCAP member countries form the Asia-Pacific region, the authors find that FDI has had a strong but heterogeneous impact on the economic performance of the countries in this region. On average, the estimates reveal that FDI is responsible for 7% of exports, for 3% of physical capital accumulation, and for 7% of real GDP per capita in the Asia-Pacific region. The authors also find that a uniform 10% decrease of bilateral trade costs for all ESCAP members in the sample would have led to strong and positive, but quite heterogeneous, impact on exports and real GDP per capita in the Asia-Pacific region.

The publication is also a background paper for the forthcoming Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2017 (APTIR). For the full paper please visit here. 

Cross-border paperless trade is increasingly important to generate economic gains in a digitalised economy. Several developing and least developed countries will need to modernise their domestic laws and regulations to facilitate cross-border electronic transmissions, particularly to promote cloud computing and electronic payments. In recent trade agreements, trading partners have committed to deeper and more comprehensive provisions on electronic commerce, including adopting domestic laws on online consumer protection, spam and data protection, facilitating use of electronic signatures and authentication methods, promoting cooperation on electronic commerce issues, and facilitating cross-border data flows. The Trade Facilitation Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) also supports various measures to facilitate crossborder paperless trade including facilitating online customs procedures and electronic payments. Further, many countries are also proposing reforms at the multilateral level by circulating proposals at the WTO to create trade rules relevant to the digital age. Such initiatives will support efforts in developing countries to implement an efficient and effective legal framework for electronic transactions. Simultaneously, to make digital trade more inclusive, developed countries should provide technical and financial assistance to developing countries and least developed countries in modernising their domestic legal framework applicable to digital trade.

For the full paper by Andrew D. Mitchell and Neha Mishra please visit here. 

This workshop aims to familiarize participants with state-of-the art structural gravity estimation techniques using STATA. The focus will be on calculation of ad valorem equivalents of trade policy measures, with applications to trade facilitation and aid for trade. The workshop will also introduce participants to counterfactual analysis of the welfare effects of trade policy measures based on gravity results. Whenever possible the workshop will incorporate hands-on sessions giving participants sufficient opportunities to explore existing public databases and tools.

For more information please visit here. For registration please mail to artnetontrade@un.org (Places reserved for ARTNeT members)

Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) have the potential to promote growth, employment and social welfare. Enhanced access to markets may create trade opportunities, boost trade volumes and facilitate regional integration. Larger, more competitive markets can also benefit consumers by providing more varied and cheaper goods and services. PTAs may offer developing countries opportunities to modernize and upgrade their domestic regulation in particular for the services sector, investment and competition with a view to greater economic efficiency.

There are four latest studies are published under the project recently:

• Labour Provisions in Asia-Pacific Free Trade Agreements Part II: Preferential Trade Agreements with labour provisions and labour market outcomes: Evidence from Asia and the Pacific by Alberto Posso
• Review of Bangladesh's Engagement in Preferential Trading Arrangements by Selim Raihan and Fayeza Ashraf
• The Economic and Social Impact of Liberalisation through Preferential Trading Agreements in Bangladesh: The case of the Ready-Made Garments and the Leather & Leathergoods Sectors by Ali Ahmed
• Enhancing the contribution of preferential trading agreements to inclusive and equitable trade: the case of Mongolia by Batnasa Namsra

For the full papers please visit here. 

Our partner FAO received confirmation that the Thai authorities have granted Geographical Indication (GI) protection to two Vietnamese GI, Shan Tuyet Moc Chau tea and Van Yen Cinnamon. The Thai registration certificates (with English translations), dated 28 September 2017.

These two applications were prepared and filed under the FAO-AFD Regional Project for the Promotion of Rural Development through Development of Geographical Indications at Regional Level in Asia in cooperation on behalf of the two GI value-chain representatives. The Project has now achieved 100% success in its support to GI intra-regional registrations.

Before the Project’s start, only 2 GI were registered intra-regionally (registered between 2 countries)  involving 2 countries (Thailand and Vietnam). Now, thanks to the Project support, they are 8 (400% increase), involving 5 countries (Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and India). Through this activity alone the Project has contributed substantially to the emergence on GI regional dialogue and harmonization and initiated a trend which should only accelerate (MOU signed between Lao PDR and Cambodia, recent GI dialogue initiated during the Project between Cambodia and Thailand, Thailand and Vietnam and Thailand and India, etc.), including also through a regional dynamic. This will also create new opportunities for regional partnerships on GI but also on a much broader scope (value-chain, control capacities, etc.).

Our member, International Think Tank for LLDCs, in cooperation with the UN Office of the High Representative for Landlocked Developing Countries and UN Treaty section organized a High level luncheon event for the Group of LLDCs in New York on October 6 on the occasion of the entry into force of the Multilateral Agreement for the establishment of an ITT for LLDCs.

The Multilateral Agreement has fulfilled the legal requirement of having a minimum of 10 accessions and/or ratifications from LLDCs in the Multilateral Agreement for the establishment of the ITT for LLDCs. Nepal acceded to the Multilateral Agreement on 7th of August, 2017 becoming the 10th member state of the ITT for LLDCs. According to article 12.1 of the Multilateral Agreement, which states “The present Agreement shall enter into force on the sixtieth day after the date of deposit of the tenth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.”, the Agreement entered into force on 6 October 2017.

For more information please visit here. 

Our partner UNU-CRIS focuses on the study of processes of regional integration and cooperation and their implications. It acts as a resource for the UN system, with particular links to the UN bodies dealing with regional integration, and works in partnership with institutes and initiatives throughout the world that are concerned with issues of integration and cooperation.

For the traineeship information please visit here, the internship information please visit here. 

Since its inception in 1967, ASEAN has encountered many challenges, from dealing with political adversity and the admission of new member states, to economic crisis of the magnitude of the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 – 1998. ASEAN has overcome these challenges without sacrificing its core principles. ASEAN must muster all its resources in its drive to achieve greater integration. Growing geopolitical contests that pit a rising China against the reigning hegemony of the United States are increasingly impacting ASEAN countries collectively or individually, with issues that threaten to divide rather than unite. Political and economic convergence of views are now more urgent than ever if ASEAN is to remain intact as a regional grouping with a global voice.

The objective of this conference is to bring together economists, researchers, industrialists and policymakers to debate on issues faced by regional economies and stimulating new ideas on drivers of ASEAN integration.

For more information please visit here.

Our partner ADBI; the School of Management and Economics (SME) of Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen; and Shenzhen Finance Institute (SFI) are jointly sponsoring a conference on Globalization, Development, and Economic and Financial Stability. The conference will be held in Tokyo, Japan on 11–12 December 2017.

The conference aims to stimulate research ideas among academic researchers and policy makers in Asia and the rest of the world, and in particular to provide a high-quality exchange platform for academic researchers and policy makers to share their in-depth research and insights on global economic and finance issues, especially those related to the Asian economy.

For more information of the call please visit here. 

Researchers at the Business School of the National University of Singapore (NUS) have created the Productivity Research Network (PRN), in collaboration with the Asian Bureau of Financial and Economic Research (ABFER), and our partner Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI). The objective of the Network is to promote empirically-based research on productivity drivers for Asia and the Pacific countries, and at the same time also stimulating more complete firm-level information gathering.

For more information of the call please visit here.

In 2018, our partner ERIA and UNCTAD will carry the mandate of the 49th ASEAN Economic Ministerial (AEM) meeting to renew the NTM database on a regular basis and analyze policy options for addressing NTMs.

Each consultant will collect all NTM information from official sources (e.g. government regulations) and classify each NTM into the right category based on the UNCTAD's NTMs classification system. Each consultant will be given proper trainings, guidelines, and ready-to-use templates to accommodate this task. Prior to data collection, selected consultants are expected to: (i) take an NTM on-line course ; and (ii) attend a mandatory training on the latest data collection method of identification, collection and classification of NTMs. All training materials will be provided by ERIA-UNCTAD.

For more information please visit here. 

The seven-week course from our partner UNCTAD Vi, scheduled November 1 to December 19, is open to candidates involved in research, teaching, policy formulation and implementation, or field work in the area of development. Applicants must hold a Master's degree in economics, international relations or political science, with coursework in development economics. 

For more information please visit here. 

Have you liked/ followed/ linked with us on social media? Connecting with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn allows you get the latest news sooner and share the news with friends easier!  

The ARTNeT Secretariat welcomes submissions of policy briefs, working papers, book reports, research reports, and book reviews by ARTNeT members, partners and collaborators. For any submission to be considered, the editorial 'Guidelines for Submissions to the ARTNeT Working Papers Series' must be adhered to.

If you are an ARTNeT member, partner or collaborator and would like to publicise your publications, research or events in the next newsletter, please e-mail us at artnetontrade@un.org.