Asia-Pacific urged to cut red tape in trade

If  the  world  economy  slows  down significantly, the Asia-Pacific region which  has  become  the  factory  of  the  world  will  have  to trade more efficiently  in the face of severe price competition. For this, governments must  work  closely  with  all stakeholders to simplify international trade procedures   and   ensure  that  regulations  are  simple,  consistent  and
transparent,  said  the  4-5  October Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum 2011.

Senior   Asia-Pacific  government  officials,  trade  facilitation  service providers,  trade  experts  and  international  agencies  working  on trade facilitation  issues  attended  the  annual  event  organised by the United Nations  Economic  and  Social  Commission  for Asia (ESCAP), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Participants  noted  that  a large proportion of trade transactions involve business-to-business  exchange  of  information  and  documents,  and these procedures are also often complex and inefficient.

“Compared  to  competitors,  if  exporters of your country need a couple of more forms to be filled, along with a few more stamps and signatures, and a couple  of  more days to complete these trade procedures, they may just not be  able  to  compete  anymore  – your country could simply lose the export market,” Dr. Ravi Ratnayake, Director, ESCAP Trade and Investment Division,  told the Forum.

Participants  underlined  the important role of subregional cooperation for trade   facilitation,   especially   for  the  12  Asia-Pacific  Landlocked Developing  Countries  (LLDCs)  for whom transit bottlenecks to the nearest port are a major hurdle to engage in international trade.

“Subregional  cooperation on transit is not only good economics as it would increase trade flows for all countries, but also good politics in a rapidly integrating world,” Ratnayake said.

The  ADB is facilitating intraregional trade and transport, Ying Qian, Lead Regional  Cooperation  Specialist, ADB told the meeting. “More focus is now given  to soft components of infrastructure development, such as optimising the  benefits  from  investments  in  transport projects by also addressing legal  issues  and administrative procedures that hinder, delay or increase
the cost of moving goods across international borders.”

The   Forum  has  made  a  range  of  recommendations  to  speed  up  trade facilitation  at  national,  subregional and regional levels. These include promoting   regional   cooperation   on  trade  and  transit  facilitation, undertaking  regular  business  process  analysis  on economic corridors to assess   developmental   gaps,  strengthening  coordination  of  government
agencies  at  the  border,  as  well as strengthening national and regional level monitoring of trade facilitation performance.