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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Challenges in Creating a Disaster Resilient Built Environment

With the increase in occurrences of high impact disasters, the concept of risk reduction and resilience is widely recognised. Recent disasters have highlighted the exposure of urban cities to natural disasters and emphasised the need of making cities resilient to disasters. Built environment plays an important role in every city and need to be functional and operational at a time of a disaster and is expected to provide protection to people and other facilities. However, recent disasters have highlighted the vulnerability of the built assets to natural disasters and therefore it is very much important to focus on creating a disaster resilient built environment within cities. However the process of making a disaster resilient built environment is a complex process where many challenges are involved. Accordingly the paper aims at exploring the challenges involved in building a disaster resilient built environment. Paper discusses the findings of some expert interviews and three case studies which have been conducted in Sri Lanka by selecting three cities which are potentially vulnerable to threats posed by natural hazards. The empirical evidence revealed, lack of regulatory frameworks; unplanned cities and urbanisation; old building stocks and at risk infrastructure; unauthorised structures; institutional arrangements; inadequate capacities of municipal councils; lack of funding; inadequacy of qualified human resources; and corruption and unlawful activities as major challenges for creating a disaster resilient built environment within Sri Lankan cities. The paper proposes a set of recommendations to address these prevailing concerns and to build a more resilient built environment within cities

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

Trade facilitation, Doha round of negotiations