Integrated Approach To Trade And Transport Facilitation

To promote smoother flows of goods across borders while reducing trade costs, this report explores an integrated approach to facilitating trade and transport across Asia and the Pacific, for better engagement in value chains. The report examines the current state of trade and transport facilitation, analyzes gaps in the available guidance, and provides strategic recommendations. It includes a framework for the assessment of trade readiness at national and subnational levels and illustrates its implementation through case studies of Cambodia and Thailand. The report aims to help governments boost the region's recovery from COVID-19 disruption by making cross-border trading and transport arrangements more efficient and more sustainable, inclusive, and equitable.

The 'Trade and Transport Facilitation Assessment' (TTFA) is a tool for identifying inefficiencies in international supply chains that limit a country s ability to compete in international trade. The TTFA examines problems that affect not only exports competitiveness, but also the ability to import and distribute inputs to production and consumer goods. This new TTFA toolkit was developed to meet the growing demand for facilitation and logistics reforms in an environment of increasing global competition and expanded trade in intermediate goods. It reflects practical experience and the change in the nature of demand from developing countries. The TTFA focuses on simplification and harmonization of trade-related procedures and identifies the opportunities for improving logistics services, infrastructure, and the overall performance of specific supply chains. It also outlines practices to develop plans of action with proper interactions with government agencies and stakeholders.

Abstract: This paper investigates when trade facilitation reform should be undertaken at the regional level. First, looking at both efficiency and implementation considerations, it confirms the perception that the regional dimension matters. Investigating where efficiency gains can be made, this research explains why national markets alone fail to produce the full scale economies and positive externalities of trade facilitation reform. Second, because trade facilitation policies need to address coordination and capacity failures, and because of the operational complexity challenge, the choice of the adequate platform for delivering reform is crucial. The lessons are that regional trade agreements offer good prospects of comprehensive and effective reform and can effectively complement multilateral and national initiatives. However, examples of implementation of trade facilitation reform in regional agreements do not seem to indicate that regional integration approaches have been more successful than trade facilitation through specific cooperation agreements or other efforts, multilateral or unilateral. Customs unions may be an exception here, and the author suggests reasons why this could be the case.

The Round Table discussed the role of the transport sector in supporting regional economic integration. The event was hosted by the Hellenic Institute of Transport, Thessaloniki.

'In the last decade trade costs have been a subject of intense study in the international trade literature. Richard Pomfret and Patricia Sourdin provide a timely and accessible summary of what we know so far. Their comprehensive review of what we have learned is paired here with important new research in the area of trade facilitation. This is important reading for policymakers interested in international trade and trade-related economic development.' Russell Hillberry, University of Melbourne, Australia 'Few topics are as important in international economics as trade costs. Surprisingly, there are few studies that explicitly address that issue in detail. This makes the book of great value to both professional economists and policy makers worldwide helping them to understand the different concepts of trade costs, their determinants and how to reduce them using trade facilitation measures. The book is very well written and a must read for any person that has an interest in trade costs!' Matthias Busse, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany This up-to-date and informative book provides a comprehensive treatment of the costs of trading across borders and of trade facilitation policies. While traditional tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade have been reduced, international trade continues to involve higher costs in money and time than domestic trade. These include not only transport costs, that are determined by distance and commodity characteristics, but also at-the-border and behind-the-border costs which can be reduced by appropriate policies. Research on trade costs has flourished since the turn of the century, and this book by Patricia Sourdin and Richard Pomfret, takes stock of our increased knowledge of the nature and magnitude of trade costs, analysing why they are high and how they can be reduced to increase the gains from trade. Trade Facilitation will appeal to economists and policymakers at the national level and in multinational institutions, researchers and postgraduate students interested in international trade and trade policy, as well as students in international business.

This paper investigates when trade facilitation reform should be undertaken at the regional level. First, looking at both efficiency and implementation considerations, it confirms the perception that the regional dimension matters. Investigating where efficiency gains can be made, this research explains why national markets alone fail to produce the full scale economies and positive externalities of trade facilitation reform. Second, because trade facilitation policies need to address coordination and capacity failures, and because of the operational complexity challenge, the choice of the adequate platform for delivering reform is crucial. The lessons are that regional trade agreements offer good prospects of comprehensive and effective reform and can effectively complement multilateral and national initiatives. However, examples of implementation of trade facilitation reform in regional agreements do not seem to indicate that regional integration approaches have been more successful than trade facilitation through specific cooperation agreements or other efforts, multilateral or unilateral. Customs unions may be an exception here, and the author suggests reasons why this could be the case.

Trade and transport corridors—major routes that facilitate the movement of people and goods between regions and between countries—have existed for millennia. They enable regions and countries to offer high-capacity transport systems and services that reduce trade and transport costs by creating economies of scale. Regional corridors are particularly important to landlocked countries, often providing the only overland routes to regional and international markets. Despite a long and complex history, guidance is often lacking on how to design, determine the components to include, and analyze the impact of corridor projects. The Trade and Transport Corridor Management Toolkit fills this void. The Toolkit synthesizes the experiences of the World Bank and other development agencies in assessing, designing, implementing, and evaluating the impact of trade and transport corridor projects. It saves project developers the task of looking for the best available tools and ensures greater consistency to facilitate comparison and benchmarking. The Toolkit will also be of immense value to policy makers in provincial and national governments as well as regional economic institutions, for several reasons: • Corridors affect the space economy of countries; they are best developed with clear estimates of the spatial impacts that can be expected. • A corridor system has multiple components, including infrastructure (roads, railways, ports), transport and logistics services, and regulations; it is important to appreciate the linkages between them, particularly as the overall performance of a corridor is determined by the weakest component. • Many parties with varying interests and motivations have a stake in corridor development. The Toolkit argues for their full participation in corridor development processes and operations. The best functioning modern corridors in the world did not happen by accident; they are often the results of coordinated development and cooperation over many years. The general principles outlined in this Toolkit should help project teams, government officials, logistics service providers, and the trade community to better appreciate both the importance of good corridor project design and the challenges of, and possibilities from, improving corridor performance.