Enhancing export diversification through trade facilitation
Trade facilitation has come to be widely recognized as an important part of regional and multilateral efforts at promoting trade integration. This policy brief suggests that developing countries may have more to gain from trade facilitation than at first thought. By influencing the fixed costs that make it difficult for firms to access global markets, trade facilitation efforts can make it possible for firms to export new products and enter new markets. By identifying and promoting aspects of trade facilitation policies with particular impacts on fixed costs, developing country policymakers can make concrete progress towards the long-held goal of export diversification.