The BIMSTEC Free Trade Area

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional cooperation between Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, and Thailand since the liberalization of these economies. Member countries need to be more proactive for integrated regional cooperative hubs to enhance trade and investment opportunities in health and other sectors of the economy to cope with the pandemic and its impact. The aim of this chapter is to show how BIMSTEC, a regional cooperative body, can be a driver for socio-economic development, inter-regional trade, and investment opportunities for BIMSTEC countries and cope with COVID-19 and its impact. The BIMSTEC area is home to approximately 1.6 billion citizens accounting to 22% of the worlds inhabitants with a joint gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.7 trillion. Unemployment situation of ‘new poor' can be tackled through close cooperation among the BIMSTEC nations in an effective manner to achieve ‘pareto optimality' through trade and investment among member countries.

African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement and the Mega-Regional Trade Agreements (MRTAs): what are the underlying challenges and prospects for Africa-South-South trade?

This study examines the possible challenges and prospects of the recent signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement on South-South trade. The recent ratification of the agreement by the African Union (AU) Heads of Government and the establishment of the mega-regional trade agreements (MRTAs) by the major global trading economies are the biggest since the establishment of the WTO. One of these regional and continental agreements' principal objectives is to further strengthen trade terms and balance of trade statistics between member nations. Whereas almost all the regional and continental blocs have to a large extent, achieved the purpose of their trade agreements, Africa stands out as the only region whose intra-trade value still constitutes less than 15% of global trade share. Many reasons have been adduced to be responsible for the weak trade performance, one of which is weak regional integration. This study, therefore, concludes that for Africa to achieve significant improvement in global trade, the region needs to encourage regional trade, which will act as a catalyst for transforming the domestic economies and lay a robust foundation for healthy regional competition and integration

Melihat Tiongkok dalam Pembentukan ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA)

Bahan diskusi perkuliahan pada Program Studi Ilmu Politik Pascasarjana Universitas Riau (2013-2014).

Competitiveness of the EU Agri-Food Sector on the US Market: Worth Reviving Transatlantic Trade?

The systematically strengthening role of emerging economies has become a factor strongly determining the overall trade policy of the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA), as well as their bilateral relations. One of the initiatives aiming at the strengthening of economic ties within the transatlantic partnership, as a consequence promoting stabilization of the positions of the EU and the USA in the world economy, was related with negotiations concerning the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The EU-USA trade talks were suspended at the end of 2016; however, the establishment of the EU-USA free trade area might be a breakthrough in the transatlantic relations, while the conclusion of this agreement would significantly determine the competitive position of the agri-food sector of these two economies, both in their bilateral relations and in world trade. In view of the above, the aim of this paper is to estimate the competitive position of the EU agri-food sector in transatlantic trade considering the conclusion of the agreement establishing the EU-USA free trade area. For this purpose, Widodo’s method of mapping products on the target market was applied. Results from the conducted analyses suggest that from 2010–2020 comparative advantages gained by the EU on the US market were sources of an advantageous export specialization. In view of the forecasted dynamic increase in agri-food export from the EU to the USA caused by possible liberalization of bilateral trade, the relatively strong competitive position of the EU on the American market might be maintained or even strengthened. However, such a situation would be determined by the regulatory cooperation progressing with the reduction of tariffs.

South Africa in Intra-African Trade: Key Trends and Perspectives

The research is motivated by the extensive literature on the role of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in boosting intra-African trade. The main contribution of the research to the academic field is that the author comprehensively approaches the impact of the AfCFTA on a separate economy, whereas the majority of the papers on the issue has focused on general effects. We consider that South Africa holds an important position in regional trade and will significantly grow and diversify its exports to the rest of Africa, as tariff and non-tariff barriers are eventually relaxed or removed entirely. This study aims to estimate the trade potential for South Africa with the rest of the continent in the context of the upcoming AfCFTA. The research questions raised are: Are there any trade opportunities for South Africa in Africa? What are the potential markets in Africa which need policymakers’ attention as far as the African Continental Free Trade Area is concerned? The study evaluates trade potentials in two steps. First, existing trade flows between South Africa and its AfCFTA-partners are analyzed, and volume of exports and geographic distribution are surveyed. After that, indexes and trade indicators are computed to assess opportunities for South Africa’s exports in each country partner. The finding reveals that there are unexploited trade opportunities for South Africa on the continent. The four more effective options are Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco. Nevertheless, South Africa is more likely to pay attention to less remote countries with high trade complementarity. Among them, there are Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Togo, Senegal, Cape Verde and Burundi. So, when designing the national African Continental Free Trade Area strategy, as it is done, South Africa could prioritize the issue of those markets.