UNESCAP activities paperless trade Ravi Ratnayake Director Trade and Investment Division UNESCAP

UNESCAP Activities For Paperless Trade in the Central Asian Countries

Project 1 Objective: To assist in building national capacity and develop national strategies for the application of ICT to trade Main activities: National workshops on trade facilitation Advisory services on trade facilitation Participating countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

Recommendations Development of an Electronic Trade Documentation System (EDTS) Roadmap for developing ETDS » Identified activities and steps » Identified time schedules »Identified responsible Ministries/Agencies

Activity II - Follow-up Activities Objective: To develop national capacity to apply ICT to international trade and transport facilitation Major Activities: Expert group meeting to develop a draft guidelines to apply ICT, including ETDS Capacity building workshop-cum-advisory service on the use of the guideline Countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam

Asia Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade ARTNeT

Res. Ins. Res. Ins. Res. Ins. Res. Ins. Res. Ins. Res. Ins. Res. Ins. Trade Policy Makers (TPMs) UNESCAP IDRC, UNCTAD, WTO, OECD, … Current Situation TPMs Legend: Res. Ins. = Research Institutions, including other research networks TPMs = Trade Policy Makers

ARTNET Research Programme Research Dissemination Research Capacity Building ARTNeT’s Strategy Policy makers in the UNESCAP region able to make (more) informed decisions on trade issues (Long-term goal) Increased quantity, quality, relevance and dissemination of trade-related research for policy makers (Medium-term objective) Team-based research Trade issues of interest to the region Short-term and long-term research ARTNET website Newsletters and Policy Briefs Annual Meeting of Researchers and Policy Makers Visiting fellowships for LDC researchers Technical Workshop on Trade Research for LDC Technical Advisors

ARTNeT Research Programme Thematic long-term (3-year) study on trade facilitation –Year 1: Need for and Cost of Selected Trade Facilitation Measures in the context of WTO Trade Facilitation Negotiations –Year 2: beyond WTO trade facilitation negotiations; trade facilitation indicators Paperless trade aspect –Automation Advance lodgment and processing of data Risk assessment