This paper focuses on a key dynamic that is changing the business environment: the globalization of production, which has major implications for the growth prospects of SMEs in Asia and the Pacific. The current global economic environment is characterized by trade liberalization, rapidly...

This studies is the outcome of the project of the Regional Expert Group Meeting on Trade and Transport Facilitation for Export Competitiveness.

The Asia-Pacific region has made a vigorous comeback from the global economic crisis and is currently leading world economic growth. However, not all countries have benefited equally from this rebound. Furthermore, as the second decade of the twenty-first century proceeds, the region faces...

The coverage of trade facilitation is found to have become very extensive, with the details of provisions in some agreements matching that in the draft WTO agreement on trade facilitation. Trade facilitation provisions and principles are increasingly seen to apply not only to Customs procedures...

The Asia-Pacific region has made a vigorous comeback from the global economic crisis and is currently leading world economic growth. However, not all countries have benefited equally from this rebound. Furthermore, as the second decade of the twenty-first century proceeds, the region faces...

This chapter presents a set of stylized facts and PTAs features which are shared across the region’s economies. Agreements are routinely classified with respect to the level of development of partners, their number and regional proximity and contiguity. The other features of the agreements...

The Asia-Pacific region has shown resilience in the face of recent economic crises and, after a shortlived slowdown, has continued to attract FDI flows. FDI plays a central role in supporting the efforts of Asia-Pacific countries to build more sustainable development practices. Even though the...

The value of world exports of commercial services rose by 11% in 2011 to $4,170 billion, exceeding pre-crisis levels of $3,850 billion in 2008. Half of world exports of commercial services in 2011 consisted of travel receipts and other business services. Asia-Pacific as a region increased its...

The paper addresses preferential trade agreements in Asia and the Pacific with the objective of identifying their characteristics, which can be useful in assessing the effects of their implementation. The paper relies mostly on the Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Agreement Database (APTIAD) in...

This paper examines the progress made so far in achieving the trade targets of Millennium Development Goal 8 ("Building a Global Partnership for Development") with respect to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) of Asia and the Pacific. The paper uses data from the OECD, WTO and UNDP, among...