East Asia is an interesting group of countries to study the impacts of trade facilitation. The majority of the economies in the region have shared similarities in terms of the apparent pursuit of export-lead growth policies. These similarities would partially reduce the impacts of unobservable factors such as economy specific policies, endowments and result in a more precise picture of trade facilitation effects on trade. A number of papers have explored the effects of various trade facilitation factors, both at-the-border and behind-the-border, on trade flows among East Asian economies.

Trade and climate change are clearly among the most important economic and political issues facing the global community. Although it is generally agreed that the two areas are closely related, the nature and outcome of these linkages are still debatable. On the one hand, there is a view that trade can contribute negatively to the problem of climate change because of its impacts on the level of economic activities and the impact on international transport.

The global economy has witnessed significant reduction in traditional trade barriers (e.g., tariffs and quotas) in the past years. This trend has been mainly a result of unilateral, regional, and multilateral trade liberalization reforms. However, technical barriers to trade and other types of trade barriers still exist and have proliferated, hampering the free flow of goods and services as well as investments across borders. Some examples of trade bottlenecks include trade processes and procedures, trade-related infrastructures, regulations, and institutions.

This study examines the adequacy and effectiveness of delivery of logistic services and their implication for export performance of Nepal. It provides a detailed assessment of the current trade facilitation and logistics situation in Nepal, including on transportation, storage and handling services. The results of an exploratory survey of freight forwarders and exporters conducted as part of the study indicate low level of efficiency of logistics in Nepal.

It is almost taken as a matter of definition that IT is an integral part of trade facilitation (TF) which objective is to expedite the movement, clearance, and release of goods, including goods in transit. Yet for many developing and least developed countries, especially those from Asia, IT remains a distant but desirable goal. There are many and varied reasons behind this, and it is not the purpose of this chapter to lay them out. However there appears to be some confusion regarding IT in TF.

Experiences from the current and past financial crises, the imperatives of more broadly based and equitable social and economic development, and other regional priorities like counter-terrorism, drugs and disease control, and environmental protection, support the value of regional cooperation and integration, both sub-regionally in the Greater Mekong Subregion, and regionally in ASEAN and the broader ASEAN +3 or East Asian region.

Bangladesh’s integration into the global trade regime is largely attributed to the robustness of its export performance, particularly that by the export-oriented manufacturing industries. With small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounting for more than 90 per cent of the total industrial units, and having a share of 12 per cent to 40 per cent of total export earnings, any attempt to facilitate trade procedures is likely to have a significant impact on this group of businesses.

To bring about mutual benefits and development in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), China has actively participated in the GMS Economic Cooperation Programme (GMS Programme) to promote social and economic development, which is supported by the Asian Development Bank. Achievements have been made in the areas of infrastructure improvement, mutual trade expansion, and increased flow of goods and experts. However, various problems and obstacles have appeared following the implementation of some of the regional initiatives.

This paper quantifies the economic impact of Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) economic cooperation and compares it with the alternative option of expanding South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) with China and Myanmar. The paper examines the macro-economic performance of the individual countries and the current level of trade among the BCIM member countries at the regional level. In addition, the paper attempts to explore the level underlying rationale, peripheral benefits and primacy of forming BCIM rather than expanding SAFTA.

Focusing on electronic lodgment through web-based applications of value-added service providers as the IT-based trade facilitation measure, the survey of Customs Brokers conducted in this study revealed that lodgment time in the Philippines dropped to one hour or less as a result, compared to previous lodgment times of ½ to one day. However, total clearance time of 1-2 days remained unchanged, implying that manually performed tasks within the lodgment-to-clearance interval may be slowing down overall procedures...