This paper estimates the trade potential for India using the augmented gravity model and then attempts to determine the importance of trade remedies. Based on panel data, this gravity model is the first-ever attempt to estimate India’s trade potential in the pre- and post- global economic and financial crisis period. The estimates of India’s global trade potential reveal that the magnitude of India’s trade potential is at its maximum in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by Africa and Latin America.

The role of trade facilitation in increasing and maximizing benefits of trade has been widely acknowledged. In this regard, the use of Information Technology (IT) in trade facilitation has received considerable attention in policy circles given its potential to reduce costs, paper work and processing times involved in trading goods across borders. Countries around the world including Sri Lanka have automated their import/export processes with some countries having more success than others.

Following widespread economic reforms, India undertook focused and dedicated trade facilitation (TF) initiatives for improving infrastructure and the regulatory regime dealing with its external sector. Information technology (IT) and information technology enabled services (ITES) are prominently placed centre-stage of the trade process reforms. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) spearhead the TF initiatives, supplemented by the Information Technology Act (2000) and eTrade Initiative of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI).

The performance of Asia-Pacific countries in terms of both trade and business facilitation varies greatly. However, with a few exceptions, developing countries in the region have much room for improvement. This paper evaluates the potential contribution of both trade and business facilitation measures to trade and export competitiveness, as well as the potential gains from adopting a more integrated and coherent approach to trade and business (investment) facilitation.

The paper attempts to assess the benefits of Duty-Free and Quota-Free Market (DFQF) access initiatives of the Republic of Korea for least developed countries (LDCs), which have been in place since 1 January 2008. Following a brief introduction on the background of this initiative, this paper examines the exports profile of LDCs, reviews the DFQF scheme of the Republic of Korea, and assesses the potential benefits of the DFQF scheme for LDCs as well as Bangladesh.

As governments consider commitments to reduce carbon emissions, an accompanying question is what adjustments are appropriate to counteract any competitive disadvantage to domestic producers resulting from such commitments, particularly in the European Union, the United States and other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.1 Considering the widely diverging levels of commitments in the area of carbon reductions, many specialists consider that some form of remedy is reasonable in order to maintain the competitiveness of domestic industries.

This report examines how IT was incorporated into cargo clearance procedures in Korea, and what its implications are for traders, SMEs in particular. After a short introduction in Section I, Section II examines the definition of SMEs in Korea, and SMEs’ role in Korean trade. In Section III, we describe the history of the adoption of IT in Korean cargo clearance. The introduction of IT to cargo clearance procedures in Korea can be roughly divided into two stages.

Multilateral rules for international trade were created with the objectives of securing market access for the post-war recovering economies and supporting their continued growth. Following the introduction of these rules in 1947 as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), it became clear that those countries with easier access to other countries’ markets were able to grow faster.

The current economic crisis has lent extra urgency to ASEAN’s efforts at economic integration and raising its attractiveness for trade and investment. This process gained momentum in the 1990s and has made much progress, as reflected in the emergence of a wide range of extra- and intra-regional agreements. However, the effectiveness of this network of arrangements in stimulating trade and investment depends on not just the characteristics of each arrangement but how well they complement each other.

Since the 1990s, the rapid expansion of China’s textiles and clothing enterprises to Cambodia has been closely linked to the phenomenon of industrial clustering of textiles and clothing firms at the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Bohai Rim.