UNESCAP activities

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• UNESCAP activities
• paperless trade

Ravi Ratnayake Director Trade and Investment
Division UNESCAP
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UNESCAP ActivitiesFor Paperless Trade in the
Central Asian Countries
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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

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Recommendations

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

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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

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Asia Pacific Research and Training Network on
Trade

• ARTNeT

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Current Situation
Res. Ins.
Res. Ins.
Res. Ins.
Trade Policy Makers (TPMs)
Res. Ins.
Res. Ins.
Res. Ins.
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Legend Res. Ins. Research Institutions,
including other research networks TPMs Trade
Policy Makers
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ARTNeTs Strategy

• Visiting fellowships for LDC researchers
• Technical Workshop on Trade Research for LDC
• Technical Advisors

• 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

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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