Foreign Trade, FDI, and Capital Flows Study

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  • Publication
    A Comparative Overview of the Incidence of Non-Tariff Measures on Trade in Lao PDR
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-02-29) World Bank Group
    An efficient and transparent regulatory framework governing international trade is a necessary condition for countries to realize the benefits of international trade. Over the last decade, Lao PDR has been deepening its economic ties with the global economy through the formal accession to the WTO in 2013. At the regional level, the country is committed to be full member of the ASEAN Economic Community. These agreements entailed profound changes to Lao PDRโ€™s regulatory framework governing international trade. This report provides an overview of the incidence on NTMs on import flows in Lao PDR before and after WTO accession and identifies lingering regulatory hurdles that may still hamper the ability of the country to reap the gains of a deeper integration. Employing detailed and comparable NTM information, this note characterizes the changes in the trade related regulatory framework in Lao PDR and compares the current scheme with that of other countries in Asia. The report also combines econometric estimations of Ad-Valorem Equivalents (AVEs) of NTMs with qualitative information collected through fieldwork to identify priority measure to streamline. This report is organized as follows. Section two discusses main conceptual issues and presents the data and metrics to examine the role of NTMs in import flows. Section three, describes the trade incidence of NTMs and compares it with similar countries and with the situation prior to WTO accession. Section four combines an econometric technique with qualitative information to discuss the stringency of NTMs. Section five presents some concluding remarks and provides some recommendation for reform.
  • Publication
    China in Regional Trade Agreements : Environment Provisions
    (World Bank, 2009-06-30) World Bank
    This report is structured in three volumes: competition provisions; environment provisions; and labor mobility provisions. The main messages of this three volumes are as follows: 1) competition laws and policies are increasingly being established at the regional level, as they could be instrumental in supporting the benefits of trade and investment liberalization; 2) China may want to use the opportunity of these negotiations to: (a) further discipline its state-owned enterprises;(b) carefully consider the possible role of antidumping policies; and (c) promote and lock-in domestic reforms aimed at improving its domestic competition policies; 3) with a shift of the development agenda from primarily pursuing growth to achieving a more balanced and sustainable development and taking into account China's high reliance on trade, it may be increasingly in China's interest to pro-actively engage its partners on environmental issues in its regional trade agreement (RTA) negotiations; and 4) while the world economy stands to gain massively from liberalization in the mobility of labor, adverse popular reaction to the economic and social impacts of immigrants has kept progress in enhancing global labor mobility well below progress in trade and capital liberalization.
  • Publication
    China in Regional Trade Agreements : Competition Provisions
    (World Bank, 2009-06-30) World Bank
    This report is structured in three volumes: competition provisions; environment provisions; and labor mobility provisions. The main messages of this three volumes are as follows: 1) competition laws and policies are increasingly being established at the regional level, as they could be instrumental in supporting the benefits of trade and investment liberalization; 2) China may want to use the opportunity of these negotiations to: (a) further discipline its state-owned enterprises;(b) carefully consider the possible role of antidumping policies; and (c) promote and lock-in domestic reforms aimed at improving its domestic competition policies; 3) with a shift of the development agenda from primarily pursuing growth to achieving a more balanced and sustainable development and taking into account China's high reliance on trade, it may be increasingly in China's interest to pro-actively engage its partners on environmental issues in its regional trade agreement (RTA) negotiations; and 4) while the world economy stands to gain massively from liberalization in the mobility of labor, adverse popular reaction to the economic and social impacts of immigrants has kept progress in enhancing global labor mobility well below progress in trade and capital liberalization.
  • Publication
    China in Regional Trade Agreements : Labor Mobility Provisions
    (World Bank, 2009-06-30) World Bank
    This report is structured in three volumes: competition provisions; environment provisions; and labor mobility provisions. The main messages of this three volumes are as follows: 1) competition laws and policies are increasingly being established at the regional level, as they could be instrumental in supporting the benefits of trade and investment liberalization; 2) China may want to use the opportunity of these negotiations to: (a) further discipline its state-owned enterprises;(b) carefully consider the possible role of antidumping policies; and (c) promote and lock-in domestic reforms aimed at improving its domestic competition policies; 3) with a shift of the development agenda from primarily pursuing growth to achieving a more balanced and sustainable development and taking into account China's high reliance on trade, it may be increasingly in China's interest to pro-actively engage its partners on environmental issues in its regional trade agreement (RTA) negotiations; and 4) while the world economy stands to gain massively from liberalization in the mobility of labor, adverse popular reaction to the economic and social impacts of immigrants has kept progress in enhancing global labor mobility well below progress in trade and capital liberalization.
  • Publication
    Building Export Competitiveness in Laos : Summary Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-11) World Bank
    The basic framework for the background study on building export competitiveness in Laos is based on the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES), which appropriately stresses the need to: (i) improve the business climate by creating a predictable and transparent policy environment; (ii) streamline administrative procedures and regulations that are an obstacle to domestic and foreign private investment; and (iii) strengthen market institutions, including most notably those related to dispute resolution and contract enforcement. This paper focuses on three key priority areas: (a) Strengthening fiscal management is a first priority area. Progress in strengthening fiscal management is likely to require reforms to the broader framework of center-province fiscal relations; (b) Establishing a functioning banking system is a second priority area. Laos needs an efficient banking system to achieve the government's development goals and meet the competitive challenges of regional integration; and (3) Improving competitiveness is a third priority area. Conventional macroeconomic assessments of competitiveness using real effective exchange rates do not suggest any major competitiveness concerns. Other approaches, involving a more detailed assessment of the various elements that make up the investment climate, suggest that competitiveness is a major impediment to attracting investment to Laos. This study addresses the main elements of the reform agenda to strengthen Laos' competitiveness, placing special emphasis on trade facilitation and reforms to the business environment.
  • Publication
    From Goats to Coats : Institutional Reform in Mongolia's Cashmere Sector
    (Washington, DC, 2003-12-19) World Bank
    The Mongolian cashmere industry has experienced a series of booms and busts over the last decade. Unsatisfactory public sector policies contributed to this result. External factors such as the unfavorable economic environment of the early 1990s, the East Asia crisis, and weather conditions have also affected its performance. Over 1993-96 cashmere exports doubled from US$33.5 million to US$71.2 million, as cashmere's share in exports increased from 9.2 to 16.8 percent. Cashmere exports weakened in 1997 and 1998, recovered briefly in 1999-2000, and faltered again in 2002 to US$45.2 million, below their 1996 levels. Cashmere's share in exports fell from 16.8 to 8.6 percent over 1996-2002. Within this background, the report examines the industry's five principal shortcomings: supply distortions; decreasing cashmere quality, demand imperfections, inadequate marketing and distribution systems, and poor public and private institutional capacity to guide industrial policy development. The lack of an efficient public sector to provide public goods, inadequate strategic business development policies, and unregulated and outdated production patterns have stifled competition, and prevented the industry from reaching its potential. Mongolia's cashmere industry has moved only marginally up the value-added chain beyond primary production, leaving it especially vulnerable to changes in market demand. It also examines Mongolia's current legal and administrative mechanisms for regulating grazing land - poorly understood by central and local governments that also frequently lack the capacity to implement the laws. The 1995 Land Law gave local governments broad authority to regulate grazing. With clarification of their legal mandates and capacity-building interventions, local governments, perhaps in partnership with local herding associations, would be capable of regulating pasture use. This paper examines the structure, conduct, and organization of Mongolia's cashmere industry and discusses the strategic supply chain linkages needed to improve its production, marketing, and competitiveness. The paper looks at how agents along the cashmere industry supply chain can generate collective efficiencies and gain competitive advantages by deepening collaboration. It also examines how public policy affects industry and firm decisions on cashmere production and marketing systems, and the incomes of herders and rural communities. It suggests a set of actions and policies for the private and public sectors - including the donor community - to facilitate cashmere's transition to a truly competitive industry. Highlighted are existing initiatives to improve market coordination, and generate cost savings, and propose areas for expansion.
  • Publication
    Pacific Islands - Regional Economic Report : Embarking on a Global Voyage - Trade Liberalization and Complementary Reforms in the Pacific
    (Washington, DC, 2002-09-10) World Bank
    This regional economic report, evaluates the strategy that the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) have chosen towards liberalizing their economies, and, analyzes as well the interaction of trade liberalization with complementary reforms in taxation, and the public sector. As a consequence of multilateral and unilateral efforts towards freer trade worldwide, preferential access granted to PICs in developed country markets, is being eroded. In particular, the report looks at the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA), viewed as a "stepping stone" to become more competitive in global markets. It is important to note that the formation of a preferential trade area, as opposed to multilateral or unilateral liberalization, is perceived as trade liberalization, but in a gradual process, to limit disruptions, and adjustments to their economies. However, in order for this "stepping stone" not to become a "stumbling block," the liberalization strategy needs to be actively pursued, through sound policy framework, and trade facilitation. Furthermore, the small un-diversified economies of, and very little trade among PICs suggests very small benefits from PICTA; yet, trade diversion which favors the more industrially advanced members is likely to develop. Nonetheless, the formulation of a free trade agreement between the PICs, and Australia and New Zealand, negotiations over reciprocal free trade agreements with the European Union in 2002 as envisaged, and provision of a free trade association by some PICs with the United States, inevitably will require the widening of preferential trading arrangements beyond PICTA, though the timing is uncertain. It is suggested that the pace and composition of reforms - in particular, more complete trade liberalization, and public sector reform - will need to be calibrated to the progress on efforts to enhance the business environment, and increase labor, and capital mobility.