The northeast of India is shares international borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar and acts as a bridge for India's participation in global forums through the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation and the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation program. This paper highlights challenges in global trade and suggests ways for improving trade with other countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Source: Sanchita Basu Das and Soumya Chattopadhyay

This report reviews economic cooperation and integration in Asia and the Pacific. It reports that in 2018, the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) focused on reducing gaps in multimodal connectivity among its member countries. By the end of 2018, 52 ADB-financed projects worth $11.36 billion had been committed to SASEC projects, with an additional $106.44 million in 81 technical assistance grants. SASEC nodal officials and working groups met in Singapore in March 2018 to update the SASEC operational plan. The operational plan identified 77 projects ($45.6 billion) to be financed by SASEC members, ADB, and development partners. A holistic approach under the operational plan will build transport links with Southeast Asia and East Asia and expand regional trade markets.

Source: Asian Development Bank

Most South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) countries rely on maritime transport for international trade. Stronger maritime relations are crucial to achieve the economic growth potential for the subregion. This report looks at how countries can strengthen international trade by improving maritime cooperation among the SASEC countries, comprised of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It gives an overview of the SASEC maritime sector and identifies collaboration initiatives that could address key challenges.

Source: Asian Development Bank

Both soft and hard infrastructure are needed to successfully implement the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement (BBIN MVA) and other connectivity initiatives. This field survey report identifies infrastructural gaps in India and suggests possible remedies to help improve flow of goods among the BBIN economies.

Source: CUTS International

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) supports cross-border infrastructure to help foster regional cooperation and integration. It is transforming transport corridors into economic corridors, allowing South Asian countries to participate in regional and global value chains and promote agriculture trade. In 2018, ADB committed $150 million to upgrade sections of South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) road corridors in India and Nepal. The investments aim to improve connectivity between Manipur (in India) and Myanmar; build an India–Nepal international bridge; and improve the safety of Nepal’s East–West Highway. ADB also approved a technical assistance project to build institutional capacity and improve expertise of trade facilitation officials in SASEC member countries.

Source: Asian Development Bank

Regional cooperation and integration (RCI) is a valuable means for attaining national development goals. This report reviews ADB’s progress in implementing its Operational Plan for Regional Cooperation and Integration, 2016–2020, and identifies areas for improvement. It takes a close look at progress in connectivity, competitiveness, and regional public goods and collective action through projects such as the Nepal: SASEC Customs Reform and Modernization for Trade Facilitation Program.

Source: Asian Development Bank

This report synthesizes the business process analysis conducted on import of wool through Kolkata-Birgunj-Kathmandu, export of wool carpet from Kathmandu-Birgunj-Kolkata, and import of fabrics from Bangladesh to Nepal through Dhaka-Banglabandha-Fulbari-Panitanki-Kakarbhitta-Kathmandu. It also measures the performance of trade corridors and border crossings in Nepal, to quantify current trade and transport facilitation and provide recommendations. Findings of the study reveal bottlenecks to trade, including procedures needed to complete import/export, compounded by requirements for transiting trade through India, which further prolongs the trade process and increases the cost. The report includes specific short-term and long-term policies to improve Nepal’s trade and transport facilitation.

Source: Asian Development Bank and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

This report investigates the evolution of trade costs, examines trade facilitation and paperless trade implementation, and highlights key initiatives in South Asia, including efforts by members of the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC). The SASEC Trade Facilitation and Transport Working Group agreed to expand assistance to trade facilitation through technical assistance to support more efficient, transparent, secure, and service-oriented processing of cross-border trade across South Asia. Through 2025, the SASEC connectivity agenda will be better aligned with the frameworks of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. To help establish a trade and transport facilitation monitoring mechanism, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal conducted studies that reviewed trade and transport procedures, analyzed bottlenecks, and gave recommendations on trade and transport facilitation.

Source: Asian Development Bank and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

This report gives an overview of assessments from the 2017 global survey on trade facilitation and paperless trade in Asia and the Pacific. It looks at the implementation of trade facilitation and paperless trade measures in 44 countries in Asia and the Pacific, including how the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Trade Facilitation Strategic Framework promotes development by deepening regional cooperation. The Framework covers national and subregional projects in Customs harmonization, improving cross-border facilities, and transport facilitation. The Framework also supports regulatory reforms and the development of the National Single Window Customs management system in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal.

Source: Asian Development Bank and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

Basic Statistics 2017 contains development indicators for 45 economies in the Asia and Pacific Region, including the seven SASEC countries, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It includes selected indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as the proportion of population living below $1.90 (PPP) a day, proportion of population with access to electricity, renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption, unemployment rate, total official flows for infrastructure, and trade balance.

Source: Asian Development Bank

Time Release Study is a special tool developed by the World Customs Organization to measure effectiveness of operational procedures carried out by Customs, other regulatory agencies and private sector stakeholders in the standard processing of imports, exports, cross border and transit movements. A key activity identified in Nepal's Customs Reform and Modernization Strategies and Action Plan 2013-2017, it identifies the average time taken for clearance of consignments from entry to exit in the Customs area, enabling possible corrective measures to improve performance. This Study was undertaken to support trade facilitation measures being introduced by the Nepal Department of Customs to reduce bottlenecks to faster Customs clearance, and promote seamless movement of cargo traffic to and from the Country.

Source: Nepal Department of Customs TRS Working Group

The 2016 Asian Economic Integration Report reviews regional economic cooperation and integration in Asia and the Pacific, amidst the rising global uncertainty following the United Kingdom’s referendum on leaving the European Union and the U.S. election, slower-than-expected global economic recovery, and ongoing economic restructuring in the People’s Republic of China and growth moderation. Asia faces heightened uncertainty–trade growth decelerated in 2015, falling to 2.3% in 2015; subregional trade linkages continue to strengthen, but inter-subregional trade linkages weakened; and non-tariff measures have become major obstacles to trade. In South Asia, SASEC cooperation has improved access to key markets in smaller economies, reduced real trade costs and behind-the-border barriers to stimulate investment; and enabled cross-border power exchanges to ensure power supply affordability, reliability, and overall grid stability. However, the SASEC agenda needs to be framed within wider integration processes taking place in Asia in the next decade to enhance economic linkages, and harness the full potential of Asian integration.

Source: Asian Development Bank

Landlocked least developed countries are often hugely disadvantaged from a lack of effective transit options, which raise transportation costs and decrease their effective participation in international trade. This study examines trade barriers that impede the trade flow of Bhutan and Nepal through India's gateway ports of Haldia and Kolkata, under the overarching research theme of the impact of regional infrastructure for trade facilitation on growth and poverty reduction. It analyzes the impact of transit regulations and agreements on the cost of services required to transit goods between the ports and Bhutan or Nepal, to identify how the two landlocked countries are affected by the cost of transit services, which trade costs vary most significantly, and how firms are affected by the cost of transit services.

Source: Prabir De, editor

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Annual Report 2015 provides an overview of WTO activities in 2014 and early 2015. It presents a timeline of two decades of the WTO -- from its origins succeeding the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to its current role in the multilateral trading system. It presents a chapter on how WTO helps developing countries build trade capacity and allows them to implement trade agreements. WTO training courses are organized for officials from developing countries each year.

Source: World Trade Organization

Freedom of transit is an issue critical to landlocked developing countries whose lack of direct access to the sea has increased costs and lessened their competitiveness in international trade. To meet challenges arising from transit barriers, member states of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific recommend transit facilitation as part of an integrated approach to trade facilitation. This working paper analyzes freedom of transit and transit facilitation in the context of trade and transport agreements in the Asia Pacific region, identifying good practices and weighing in on the extent to which existing agreements meet the provisions on transit facilitation stated in the draft text of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Facilitation.

Source: Louis Cousin and Yann Duval

Cross-border paperless trade is trade that occurs on the basis of electronic communications and has been part of customs reform efforts in a variety of countries. Increased implementation of cross-border paperless trade is high on the trade facilitation agenda in Asia-Pacific. This report considers six measures to calculate estimates of possible economic benefits of cross-border paperless trade through counterfactual simulations using 2013 data and simple econometric models. Simulation results reveal that this new generation of trade facilitation can significantly reduce trade costs and boost intra- and extra-regional trade in the region. Partial implementation of these measures can lead to an export increase of $36 billion annually. Total direct cost savings across all trade is about $1 billion per annum for partial reform, and $7 billion for full implementation.

Source: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

This report presents an overview of implementation challenges for realizing trade facilitation reforms. It consolidates results of 26 national trade facilitation implementation plans in 26 countries, comprising least developed countries, middle-income developing countries, landlocked countries, and small island economies in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. In the 26 countries surveyed, the level of implementation of trade facilitation measures in the World Trade Organization (WTO) is considerably lower in least developed countries (LDCs) than in developing countries. Since trade facilitation still remains a major challenge for developing countries and LDCs, an international legal regime with special and differential treatment will help developing WTO members achieve further progress.

Source: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

This publication is a contribution by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific to deliberations at the Second United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) in Vienna, Austria, 3-5 November 2014. It shows regional connectivity as an unfinished agenda and bridging infrastructure gaps as a complex challenge for LLDCs. While physical infrastructure is a priority, this report argues that deeper regional integration – through regionally cohesive and terrestrial networks – is key to effectively linking Asian LLDCs to the region’s infrastructure networks.

Source: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

This promotional brochure is a concise introduction to the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Program, highlighting the main areas of regional cooperation and activity. It includes facts and figures about SASEC projects in transport, trade facilitation, energy, and ICT.

Source: Asian Development Bank

This promotional brochure for the SASEC website features the web portal as a one-stop shop for information on SASEC activities, events, projects, and knowledge materials. The SASEC website seeks to build a dynamic discussion platform and repository of data on regional cooperation.

Source: Asian Development Bank

This annual publication highlights the relationship between trade and development, including changes since the start of the millennium. It identifies four key trends that altered the way trade affects development outcomes – accelerated economic growth in developing countries, expansion of global value chains, increase in agricultural and natural resource prices, and global nature of macroeconomic shocks. This report also explores how these trends have reshaped the role of trade in facilitating development and how recent development gains allow developing countries to adapt and mitigate risks.

Source: World Trade Organization

Aid for Trade (AfT) came to prominence just over a decade ago at the launch of the World Trade Organization's Doha Round. With its focus on helping least developed countries and economies escape the poverty trap, it aims to strengthen their capabilities to meet market demand and to reduce supply-side constraints such as a lack of trade infrastructure.

Source: Asian Development Bank

ADB's third Regional Cooperation Operations Business Plan (RCOBP) 2014-2016 for South Asia under its South Asia Regional Cooperation Strategy (RCS) 2011-2015 details a cumulative indicative lending program of $3.3 billion and maintains focus on improved regional connectivity, increased cross-border trade, and strengthened regional economic cooperation.

Source: Asian Development Bank

This paper assesses the contribution of key institutions of regional cooperation and integration (RCI) in South Asia, and suggests ways in which the Asian Development Bank and other development partners can strengthen their support. It attempts to enhance understanding on the interplay between politics and RCI, including how good bilateral political relations or improvements have advanced RCI. With the overall political environment growing increasingly open to RCI, the paper suggests the time has come for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to consider strengthening the capacity of the SAARC Secretariat to meet the growing challenges and work load of managing the anticipated increase in RCI.

Source: Prabhu Ghate

This study aims to showcase the benefits of regional integration and recommends strategies for overcoming the many hurdles.

Source: Shahid Kardar

Sector roadmaps with result frameworks for transport, energy, and trade facilitation.

Source: Asian Development Bank

This paper examines the benefits of regional cooperation and integration, focusing on the cost of neglecting to address the binding constraints to regional cooperation and integration. Component papers in this volume analyze the current state of play, and identifies the binding constraints to achieving more efficient transport corridors, regional energy trade and trade facilitation in the region.

Source: Gilberto M. Llanto

This report reviews the provision of high priority regional public goods (RPGs) selected for the South Asia subregion, and proposes areas of cooperation for improving the provisioning of RPGs in South Asia. It highlights the issues in cross border management of infrastructure projects and best practices in the provisioning of RPGs relevant for South Asia, evaluates ADB’s contributions to providing RPGs in the subregion, and concludes with recommendations on ADB’s South Asia Regional Department’s role in the provision of RPGs in the subregion.

Source: Khaja Moinuddin

This report proposes that improving border coordination and relationships will further increase the existing intraregional trade among SASEC countries. Several non-trade barriers are tackled in the context of trade promotion, with the view that addressing non-trade barriers would also lead to resolving issues on non-tariff barriers.

Source: Florian A. Alburo