Publication: Pacific Region Trade Facilitation Challenges for Women Traders and Freight Forwarders: Survey Findings and Recommendations
Date
2021-01
ISSN
Published
2021-01
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Gender equality is central to the World
Bank Group’s (WBG) twin goals of ending extreme poverty and
increasing shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. Gender
inequality can cause economies to be less competitive
internationally particularly for countries with export
potential in industries that have high women employment.
Countries in the Pacific Islands region face unique
development challenges: they are physically detached from
major markets, tend to have high levels of gender
inequality, and confront the worst impacts of climate
change, making them some of the most vulnerable countries to
natural disasters in the world. These challenges increase
trade costs and make it difficult for the Pacific Island
countries to trade effectively and competitively. To
overcome the challenges of size and isolation, trade
capacity could be increased for countries to effectively
integrate into the global trading system and thus improve
their economic opportunities. One way to do this is through
the implementation of trade facilitation measures that lower
time and costs to trade. This report compares the findings
of surveys across five countries in the region of Fiji,
Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu. Some of
the key findings and trends on the trade facilitation
challenges faced by surveyed traders at the firm level in
the region are covered in this report. Section 2 of this
report explains why a study on women cross-border traders at
the firm level, particularly as it relates to trade
facilitation, is useful. Section 3 provides a description of
the survey sample and the methodology used to carry out the
survey. Section 4 presents the findings of the trade
facilitation and gender survey, including analysis of
cross-border trade challenges by gender. Section 5 concludes
with recommendations based on survey response.
Citation
“World Bank. 2021. Pacific Region Trade Facilitation Challenges for Women Traders and Freight Forwarders : Survey Findings and Recommendations. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35225 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”