The ARTNeT and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ, Germany) organise the workshop on “Practical tools for impact assessment of trade liberalization and free trade agreement”. It will be held during 23-27 January 2017, Bangkok, Thailand.

This workshop aims to provide participants with the following:
1. Practical knowledge and skills in applying quantitative tools for impact assessment of trade liberalization and FTA;
2. An appreciation in the use of data and research evidence in trade policymaking and analysis.

In light of these objectives, the structure of the workshop will alternate between presentations by the trainer based on the existing literature, and “hands on” applications in which participants will be invited to explore concrete applications using real data. In addition, participants will be required to work in groups to conduct an exercise tracing through all aspects of the training, from research design to presentation and interpretation of results.

For the workshop programme please visit here. For registration of the workshop or any other inquiries, please e-mail artnetontrade@un.org

The WTO and ESCAP TIID organized the WTO/ESCAP-ARTNeT capacity building workshop for trade research on "Empirical methods in trade: Analyzing non-tariff measures", from 12 to 16 December 2016, UNCC, Bangkok, Thailand.

The workshop aimed to broaden and deepen participants’ understanding of the non-tariff measures, which have been playing an increasingly important role in trade and development. The focus were on the use of techniques and software in calculating indicators of presence and spread of non-tariff measures as well as of empirical methods in analyzing non-tariff measures’ impact on trade, prices, production and welfare. The 36 participants who are researchers and analysts in government departments or institutes dealing with international economics and development areas from 17 countries attended the workshop which had resource persons from RIS, UNCTAD, ERIA, IAIT, WTO, ASEAN and TIID. This was the second training workshop organized for the project "Supporting Equitable Economic Development in ASEAN: Impact of Regional Integration (AEC) on Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam (CLMV countries)" under phase four of ARTNeT and supported by Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

Furthermore, the follow-up Call for ARTNeT post-workshop research study proposals invites researchers who participated in the workshop to submit proposals for short-term research studies. Proposal submission deadline: 20 January 2017.

For the presentations of the workshop please visit here.  

The ESCAP in collaboration with ARTNeT has released an online course focusing on Trade and SDGs. The access to the course is free to the public and the content is chosen to provide an accessible learning on the transition from ‪MDGs‬ to SDGs, type process and rationale behind opting for a universal goal, and introduces the main linkages between trade and the SDGs. The three modules now form a basic level course and will be followed by more advanced and tailored courses to respond to capacity building needs in this substantive area.

These three modules can be accessed from:

Module 1 / Module 2 / Module 3

You have to register online and then you are ready to go. This will enable you to receive a certificate after finishing each module.

APEA is happy to introduce its thirteenth annual conference: It will be held in Seoul, Korea on July 13-15, 2017 and will be hosted by Korea University. 

The association was established with the following mission:
· to promote interactions among economists in the Asia-Pacific region and in other parts of the world
· to encourage economic research in the region
· to disseminate economic research results

Economists are invited to submit papers for presentation in the conference. Papers in all economics fields, either theoretical or empirical, and whether or not directly related to the Asia-Pacific economies, are welcome. A few sessions for graduate students in doctoral programs are planned. The deadline for submitting a paper (or an extended abstract with at least 300 words): February 15, 2017. 

For the conference and submission details please visit here. 

The goal of the annual conference is to promote the exchange of ideas among economists conducting quantitative analysis of global economic issues. Particular emphasis will be placed on applied general equilibrium methods, data, and application. Related theoretical and applied work is also welcome. The overall theme of the conference is "Global Economic Analysis in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities" with sub-themes on:
· Sustainable Development
· Climate change policies and adaptation
· Whither regionalism in the absence of a global trade agreement?
· Agricultural innovation, growth and transformation
· Capital and inequality in the 21st century

The deadline for abstracts / organized session proposals and travel funding opportunities: 15 January. For the submission details please visit here. 

The objective of the GTAP 101 course (10 April - 28 May 2017) is to engage participants in an active, team-based process of learning about the GTAP computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and its use in applied economic policy analysis. The curriculum emphasizes an intuitive and graphical treatment of economic theory in the CGE model, and provides structured experiences in manipulating and running the standard GTAP Model within the RunGTAP software environment.

Application deadline: 15 Jan 2017. More information and registration details please visit here. 

In an effort to enhance knowledge about the links between structural transformation, industrial policy and development, the UNCTAD Virtual Institute (Vi) developed this online course for stakeholders in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The seven-week course is based on the Vi teaching material on structural transformation and industrial policy. It will be tutored by the lead author of the material and author of the online course, Francesca Guadagno.

The course targets academics (from universities and research centres), policymakers, and representatives of civil society in developing and transition countries involved in research, teaching, policy formulation and implementation, or field work in the area of development. Qualified women candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.

Applicants must hold a Master's degree in economics, international relations or political science, and have completed courses in development economics. Excellent knowledge of English, including technical terminology, is also required.

Thanks to support from the Government of Finland, participants selected to attend the course will be exempt from the fees associated with access to the course and e-tutoring services provided. The deadline for applications is February 10. 

For more information and application instruction please visit here.

A warm welcome to International Trade Centre (ITC) which became the 11st associate partner of ARTNeT. Established in 1964, ITC's mission is to foster inclusive and sustainable economic development, and contribute to achieving the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development. ITC works towards creating ‘trade impact for good’.

ITC's recent research, publication series on non-tariff measures, includes company survey results for Indonesia and Thailand​, as well as a comprehensive business survey across the 28 EU Member States, involving interviews on NTM-related trade obstacles with over 8,000 exporters across 26 sectors. The NTM survey data and related publication can be found in this page.

The ARTNeT focal point will be Ms. Ursula Hermelink.

Want to join ARTNeT? Please consult the ARTNeT Membership Guidelines.

ePing, a new tool that ITC have recently launched, allows users to receive alerts on SPS and TBT notifications for products and partner countries of their interest and to thereby stay informed about future changes to regulations. The tool has also a feature that allows signalling concerns (e.g. of exporters) with new regulations to SPS and TBT inquiry points (who then in turn can take up these points for example in negotiations). Primarily designed for developing countries, the tool is a global public good and hence available to users across the world. It was launched during the WTO TBT Committee meeting of 8 November and is a collaboration between WTO, UNDESA and ITC. Australia has been a supporter of this tool since its inception and is already using it.

Even as protectionist policies resurface and gain traction around the world, Why Growth Matters by Columbia University economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya (also the National Institution for Transforming India Aayog Vice-Chairman), offers a vision of growth driven by engagement with the world market and comprehensive reforms to dismantle India’s corrupt license-permit raj. With lucid arguments, powerfully salient examples and a wealth of research, Why Growth Matters is the definitive tour guide through India’s economic past of failed socialist policies, its present struggles with over-regulation and its future of economic reform and inclusive growth.

Reviewed by Anaïs Ning, Duke University (a candidate for a joint Juris Doctor degree and an MA degree in Economics). For the full review please visit here. 

This study from our advisor Kym Anderson at our member University of Adelaide, reviews policy developments in recent years and, in the light of that, explores ways in which further consensus might be reached among WTO members to reduce farm trade distortions – and thereby also progress the multilateral trade reform agenda. Particular attention is given to ways that would boost well-being in developing countries, especially for those food-insecure households still suffering from poverty and hunger. 

Access the eletrinic edition of the book please visit here.

This book explores the potential for policy reform as a short-term, low-cost way to sustainably enhance global food security. It argues that reforming policies that distort food prices and trade will promote the openness needed to maximize global food availability and reduce fluctuations in international food prices. Beginning with an
examination of historical trends in markets and policies, our advisor Anderson assesses the prospects for further reforms, and projects how they may develop over the next fifteen years. He pays particular attention to domestic policy changes made possible by the information technology revolution, which will complement global change to deal directly with farmer and consumer concerns. 

More information about this book please visit here.

This field-based research study from our core partner UNDP seeks to identify the barriers that micro, small and medium enterprises face in engaging in subregional trade and business in general with a focus on women entrepreneurs. Identified issues, such as access to information, markets, finance and trainings, and transportation and cumbersome custom procedures might be common to all micro, small and medium enterprises in the South Asia. The study, however, argues that if the integration of micro, small and medium enterprises into intraregional trade remains gender blind, the South Asian countries will miss out on a unique opportunity to boost growth, which, in turn, will make a significant contribution towards achieving sustainable development. Therefore, gender mainstreaming tools such as gender-responsive budgeting should be applied to all parts of economic and social sectors including trade facilitation and infrastructure projects to reflect the needs of women entrepreneurs and traders on all policies and programmes.

Access to the full text of the research please visit here. 

At the turn of the millennium, the unanimous adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the United Nations General Assembly marked a new chapter in international development. However voices from the Global South were noticeably absent in shaping the agenda. Fifteen years later, the global context has changed so much that it would have been inconceivable not to have taken voices from the South into account when planning the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since its inception in 2012, the Southern Voice on Post-MDG International Development Goals (Southern Voice), a network of 49 thinks tanks from Africa, Asia and Latin America, has generated a substantial body of original research to feed in to various aspects of the post-2015 development agenda, such as the missing dimensions of the MDGs, ways to mitigate existing challenges in delivering on aspiredoutcomes, and new issues, goals, targets and indicators that are crucial for the next global development framework.

Southern Perspectives on the Post-2015 International Development Agenda consolidates this research and stitches together development realities and policy experiences from the Global South, infusing unique local perspectives to the global debate on the post-2015 agenda. The compendium, which is being published as part of the series viz. Routledge Explorations in Development Studies, addresses the overarching themes underpinning the new international development framework by focusing on issues such as sustainability and growth, inclusion and social policies, governance and capacities, and financing of the new agenda. Southern Voice seeks to challenge the “knowledge asymmetry” afflicting the global knowledge system by channelling evidence-based policy analyses produced by centres of excellence, located in the Global South.

More information about the book please visit here. 

"Trade Costs and Inclusive Growth", case studies presented by WTO chair-holders, looks at how implementation of the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) can help to reduce trade costs and promote growth. The publication brings together contributions from ten participants in the WTO Chairs Programme, including ARTNeT member Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, which supports trade-related activities by academic institutions in developing countries.

The book looks into how the Aid for Trade initiative can assist with implementing the TFA, the importance of mainstreaming trade into national development strategies, and the potential impact of the TFA in various regions.

For the full text please visit here. 

The gravity model is one of the most successful frameworks in economics. Hundreds of papers have used the gravity model to study and quantify the effects of various factors on international trade. This book guides the reader through the challenges of applying the model and provides recommendations on how to obtain reliable partial equilibrium estimates for the effects of trade policy.

On the same topic, ARTNeT published the The Gravity Model of International Trade: A User Guide to provide a hands on introduction to gravity modeling for applied policy researchers. It is designed to be used in conjunction with a dataset of bilateral trade in services available for free download, and readers are encouraged to replicate the results presented here using the Stata code provided in the text.

The Report highlights the need for LDCs to move from graduation strategies focused on qualification for graduation to "graduation-plus" strategies that take a long-term perspective and foster structural transformation. Elements of such strategies include:

- Coordinated measures to upgrade agriculture and promote non-farm activities.
- A combination of cross-sectoral and sector-specific industrial policies.
- A considerable scaling up of public #investment, especially in rural areas, to strategically address bottlenecks in the productive sector.
- Addressing gender inequality across all policy areas, to ensure fuller and more effective use of human resources.

For the full report please visit here. 

It is widely held that an inverted duty structure (IDS) results from inputs having a higher tariff over the output, such that importing becomes preferable over domestic production. This report argues that without giving consideration to the production process—in particular, the product input mix and the quantities that go into the production of one unit of output—merely comparing tariffs of inputs over outputs can mislead the identification of IDS. Comparison of tariffs also needs to go beyond the basic customs duty. The report provides an important platform for policymakers, businesses, industry representatives, multilateral organisations, and the academe, facilitating discussion on IDS and the anomalies around it and encouraging the formulation of evidence-based policy.

For the full test please visit here. 

ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS)

Southeast Asia Outlook 2017

Deepening of Malaysia’s Economic Ties to China: What Are the Implications?

Korea Institute for Internaional Economic Policy (KIEP)

Does FDI Crowd Out Domestic Firms? Micro-Level Evidence from the Republic of Korea

Building a Northeast Asian Economic Community

China's Innovation-Driven Development Strategy and Prospects

Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS)

BIMSTEC, The Road Ahead

Institutional Architecture for South-South Cooperation

The Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore (ISAS-NUS)

The Economic Consequences of Mr Trump for South Asia

Policy Research Institute (PRI)

Global agricultural trade and Bangladesh

Bangladesh in LDC status — an economic analysis

Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS)

Why manufacturing resurgence will mean more services, not less

Australian SME Micro-Offshoring Opportunities in the Philippines: An Expanding Niche Market?

Dr Phouphet Kyophilavong received 2nd level of Labor Medal on the occasion of 20th anniversary of National University of Laos (NUoL). He is top outstanding researchers at NUoL, published more than 60 articles in international journals, national journals, and book chapters.

He is Associate Professor and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Management, NUoL. He received his PhD in economics from Kobe University in 2003 and has been carrying out research on issues including SMEs, macroeconomic management, economic integration, energy, natural resources and poverty, contributing to such publications as the International Review of Economics & Finance, Research in International Business and Finance, Economic Modelling and others. He has directed numerous research projects and works closely with government agencies in Laos and international organizations such as ERIA, Asian Development Bank, ADB Institute, Japan International Cooperation Agency and Mekong River Commission (MRC). He has been a visiting scholar at Pukyong National University, Nagoya University, University of Laval, and Nanyang Technological University, as well as Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. He is editor in chief of the Lao Journal of Economics and Management.

 

Mr. Said Jafarli, graduate student of the Faculty of Economic and Management, The National University of Malaysia, attended in the 11th workshop of ARTNeT in 2015, where he learnt the fundamentals of the Gravity Model and its application. Later he further developed the knowledge on the model and, with Dr Tamat Sarmidi, studied the trade effects of Arabic FTAs (GAFTA, GCC, Agadir)  based on the best methodologies proposed in the literature. The Arabic FTAs were his main interest area then, as they had never been consistently and comprehensively evaluated. Later he extended his research to FTAs among other developing countries, such as ASEAN-India/China, SAFTA, SADC, and COMESA.

He discovered the results obtained from most of his studies are not in line with the previous studies, mostly due to better data and methodology usage. He found the supplementary materials provided in the ARTNeT workshops were particularly useful in doing these researches. More recently he was able to do counterfactual analysis of the ASEAN FTA by using the General Equilibrium gravity model proposed in 2015. This methodology is useful in disaggregating the effects of trade agreements on world countries and evaluating the effects on producers/consumers in each country based on price changes. His researches will be published in peer-reviewed journals soon in this year.

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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.