Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011: Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities

In Asia and the Pacific, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain a critical source of employment creation (in many economies of Asia and the Pacific contributing 60% or more of jobs) and income generation. While SMEs enhance dynamism in economies by providing flexibility and fresh ideas, they can also stabilize societies by providing safety nets for disadvantaged workers. In this regard, the SME sector has occupied a prominent position in the development agenda of all developing economies in the region; thus, promotion of SME development has been regarded as an important policy issue in those economies.SMEs, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Regional, Global, Markets, Value chains, opportunities, apparel, garments

Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011: Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities

With the start of the global economic crisis, world foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows decreases by 16% in 2008, then dropped sharply by 37% in 2009 and gained a marginal 1% increase in 2010. The decrease was relatively more pronounced in the developed countries. For the first time, developing countries are expected to have absorbed more than half of global FDI flows in 2010.foreign direct, investment, FDI, economic crisis, Asia, Pacific, regional trade agreement,

Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011: Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities

Commercial services exports are slowly returning to their pre-crisis level, with global exports climbing by 8.3% from $3.4 trillion in 2009 to$3.7 trillion in 2010. Asia, and the Pacific, in particular developing Asia, is again leading the recovery, with a growth rate of more than 20% in 2010. This strong rise came after a slump in commercial services exports by almost 12% in 2009.Services, Trade, Trade, recovery, export, import, Asia, Pacific, international, tourism, computer, information, intraregional

Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011: Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities

The traditional developed economies of the Group of Three (G3)-the European Union, Japan and the United States- all face economic slowdown, and acceptance is growing that the Asia-Pacific region will be the world's next engine of economic growth. Developing economies in Asia and the Pacific are rapidly increasing their importance in the world economy, having performed robustly to make a quick recovery in 2010 and reach pre-crisis levels of economic activity while major industrial countries continue to struggle.Trade, Investment, Opportunities, European Union, Japan, United States, G3, Group of three, economic, growth, import, export, Asia, Pacific

Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011: Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities

List of tables on trade performance indicatorsTrade performance indicator, trade share, import, export, Asia, Pacific

Promoting Sustainable and Responsible Business in Asia and the Pacific: The Role of Government, Studies in Trade and Investment 72

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is widely accepted as the business sector's contribution to inclusive and sustainable development. Thus, government can harness the CSR agenda in pursuit of this goal. There are several reasons why governments should seek to promote CSR: greater social and environmental sustainability, market competitiveness, economic stability, and good governance. This policy-oriented paper identifies initiatives that policy-makers in the Asia Pacific region should duly consider for promoting CSR practices, at both the regional and national levels, and spanning domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to large multinational enterprises (MNEs). The initiatives are diverse in focus and scope, although there is one common denominator: virtually none can be enacted by government alone. Any initiative to promote sustainable and responsible business needs to be sustainable in itself, and that in turn necessitates the active engagement and tangible inputs of the business community.corporate social responsibility, global compact, Asia and the Pacific, role of government, economic, social, environment, market competition, sustainable and responsible business, inclusive and sustainable development, carbon credit, green bank, policy-makers, SME, MNE, trade, investment

Unveiling Protectionism: Regional Responses to Remaining Barriers in the Textiles and Clothing Trade

Trade facilitation, Doha round of negotiations

Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2011: Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities

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 various challenges, such as high food and fuel prices, continued malaise in most of the developed economies, and a higher incidence of natural disasters that affect trade and investment. At the same time, there are also plenty of opportunities. With its focus on the theme "Post-crisis trade and investment opportunities", this year's Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report identifies the challenges and opportunities for trade and investment in the region. The report concludes that, with the right policies and strengthened regional cooperation, the region would be able to continue its strong trade-and investment-led growth.Trade, Investment, opportunities, Asia, Pacific, economic growth, crisis, post-crisis,

Facilitating Agricultural Trade in Asia and the Pacific, Studies in Trade and Investment 74

The growth of agricultural trade has direct implications for the Asia-Pacific region. Agricultural supply chains employ millions of people and there is a growing need for food commodities and high-value food products. The Asia-Pacific region is both a major consumer and producer of agricultural products. Its growth in both imports and exports is accelerating, but not to the potential. There is significant opportunity in this region to expand agro-trade especially due to population growth, dietary change of consumers and trade of high-value products. A number of constraints act as barriers to realizing the trade potential of the Asia-Pacific region: cumbersome trade procedures, inadequate compliance to product standards, poor trade logistics and lack of financing for agricultural trade. The status of least developed and landlocked developing countries are worse in many of these categories. Some Asia-Pacific countries have adopted effective measures to deal with their national bottlenecks, mostly based on simplifying procedures, introducing paperless trade transactions, improving quality infrastructure and introducing innovative financing mechanisms. Still, many countries in this region lag behind in facilitating agricultural trade and will need to adopt similar measures.Agricultural trade, agro-trade, trade facilitation, constraints, measures, agricultural product, supply chain, Asia and the Pacific, SME, food security, tariff barrier, trade procedure, trade logistics, trade finance, paperless trade

Navigating Out of the Crisis: A Trade-led Recovery-A Practical Guide for Policymakers in Asia and the Pacific

The current economic and financial crisis is an unprecedented challenge for policymakers of the Asia-Pacific region. While the region's policymakers have gained considerable experience in responding to national or regional financial crises, they have less expertise in addressing a crisis that originated in the financial sector and then reverberated throughout the real economy. Governments in the region may benefit from considering other countries' experiences in how to react to sharp reductions in trade, employment and production. In addition, as this crisis has spread globally, the solution will have to be based on a global and coordinated response to limit long-term harm, in particular to the most vulnerable economies. This guide outlines short-, medium-, and long-term trade-related policy tools at the international, regional and national level which Asia-Pacific countries may want to consider both mitigate the impact of the economic crisis and to invest in more resilient economies for the future. This book has 7 chapters (1) National Coordination for a Trade-led Recovery, (2) Maintaining the Supremacy of the Multilateral Trading System, (3) Addressing Trade Financing and Trade Development Constraints, (4) Diversifying Products and Markets for Exports, (5) Enhancing South-South Trade and Cooperation, (6) Promoting Asia-Pacific Businesses for Long-Term Competitiveness, and (7) Looking beyond the Crisis: Positioning the Asia-Pacific Region for the Futureeconomic, financial crisis, Asia-Pacific, WTO, international trade, competitiveness, South-South Trade, export, Diversifying products, Multilateral Trading System, Trade-led recovery