Wilson, John S.Otsuki, Tsunehiro2012-06-082012-06-082007-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/7608The trade performance of countries in South Asia over the past two decades has been poor relative to other regions. Exports from South Asia have doubled over the past 20 years to approximately USD 100 billion. In contrast, East Asia's exports grew ten times over the same period. The low level of intraregional trade has contributed to weak export performance in South Asia. The empirical analysis in this paper demonstrates gains to trade in the region from reform and capacity building in trade facilitation at the regional level. When considering intraregional trade, if countries in South Asia raise capacity halfway to East Asia's average, trade is estimated to rise by USD 2.6 billion. This is approximately 60 percent of the total intraregional trade in South Asia. Countries in the region also have a stake in the success of efforts to promote capacity building outside its borders. If South Asia and the rest of the world were to raise their levels of trade facilitation halfway to the East Asian average, the gains to the region would be estimated at USD 36 billion. Out of those gains, about 87 percent of the total would be generated from South Asia's own efforts (leaving the rest of the world unchanged). In summary, we find that the South Asian region's expansion of trade can be substantially advanced with programs of concrete action to address barriers to trade facilitation to advance regional goals.CC BY 3.0 IGOAGRICULTURAL TRADEAIRAIR TRANSPORTAIRPORTAVERAGE TARIFFBARRIERS TO EXPORTSBARRIERS TO TRADEBENEFITS OF TRADEBENEFITS OF TRADE FACILITATIONBILATERAL AGREEMENTBILATERAL INITIATIVESBILATERAL TRADEBORDER CROSSINGBORDER CROSSINGSBORDER TRADEBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTCARGOCARGO DWELL TIMECHAMBERS OF COMMERCECOMMODITIESCOMMODITYCONGESTIONCONSIGNMENTCONTAINER TERMINALSCONTAINERSCOSTS OF TRANSPORTATIONCROSSINGCUSTOMSCUSTOMS ADMINISTRATIONCUSTOMS CLEARANCECUSTOMS CLEARANCE PROCEDURESCUSTOMS FACILITIESCUSTOMS OFFICESCUSTOMS PROCEDURESCUSTOMS REGULATIONSCUSTOMS VALUATIONDELIVERIESDEPOTSDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDRIVINGDRIVING COSTSEAST EUROPEECONOMIC INTEGRATIONELASTICITIESELASTICITYELASTICITY OF TRADEENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONSEXPORT CLEARANCEEXPORT GROWTHEXPORT INDUSTRIESEXPORT PERFORMANCEEXPORT PERMITSEXPORT PRODUCTSEXPORTERSEXPORTSEXTERNAL SHOCKSFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFOREIGN TRADEFREE TRADEFREE TRADE AGREEMENTFREE TRADE AGREEMENTSFREE TRADE AREAFREIGHTFREIGHT FLOWSFREIGHT MOVEMENTFRICTIONAL COSTSGATTGENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFSGENERAL EQUILIBRIUMGENERAL EQUILIBRIUM MODELGEOGRAPHIC PROXIMITYGLOBAL COMPETITIVENESSGLOBAL TRADEGRAVITY MODELGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTHIGHWAYSIMPACT OF TRADEIMPORT BARRIERSIMPORT DECLARATIONSIMPORT DUTYIMPORT PRICESIMPORTSINCOME CONVERGENCEINFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTINFRASTRUCTURESINLAND TRANSPORTINLAND WATERWAYSINSPECTIONINTERNATIONAL COMMERCEINTERNATIONAL ECONOMICSINTERNATIONAL FINANCEINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERNATIONAL TRADINGINTERREGIONAL TRADEINTRAREGIONAL TRADEINVENTORYLAND TRANSPORTLANDLOCKED COUNTRIESLINER SHIPPINGLOADINGLOCAL ROADSLOGISTICS CHAINLOGISTICS COSTSMACROECONOMIC POLICYMANUFACTURINGMARITIME PORTSMARITIME TRANSPORTMIDDLE EASTMULTIMODAL TRANSPORTNORTH AFRICAOPEN MARKETSPOLICEPOLLUTIONPORT AUTHORITIESPORT FACILITIESPORTSPREFERENTIAL TRADEPREFERENTIAL TRADE ARRANGEMENTSPROCESS OF MODERNIZATIONQUALITY ASSURANCERAILRAIL NETWORKRAILWAYRAILWAY NETWORKSRAILWAY SECTORRAILWAY SYSTEMRAILWAYSRATES OF PROTECTIONREGIONAL INTEGRATIONRETAIL TRADEROADROAD CONNECTIONSROAD NETWORKROAD SECTORROAD TRANSPORTROADSROLLING STOCKROUTEROUTESSAFETYSAFETY STANDARDSSEAPORTSSHIPMENTSSHIPPERSSHIPPINGSHIPPING COMPANIESSHIPPING COSTSSHIPPING ROUTESSHIPSSOUTH ASIANSRI_LANKASUPPLY CHAINSTARIFF BARRIERSTARIFF DATATARIFF RATETARIFF RATESTECHNICAL BARRIERSTECHNICAL REGULATIONSTRADE AGENDATRADE AGREEMENTSTRADE ARRANGEMENTSTRADE BARRIERTRADE BARRIERSTRADE CLASSIFICATIONTRADE COSTSTRADE DIVERSIONTRADE EFFECTTRADE EXPANSIONTRADE FACILITATIONTRADE FLOWSTRADE INTEGRATIONTRADE LIBERALIZATIONTRADE LOGISTICSTRADE PATTERNTRADE PERFORMANCETRADE POLICIESTRADE POLICYTRADE POLICY AGENDATRADE REGULATIONSTRADE VOLUMETRADE VOLUMESTRAFFICTRAILSTRANSITTRANSPARENCYTRANSPORTTRANSPORT ACTIVITIESTRANSPORT COSTSTRANSPORT FACILITATIONTRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURETRANSPORT SECTORTRANSPORT SERVICESTRANSPORT SYSTEMSTRANSSHIPMENTTRUCKSVALUE OF TRADEVEHICLEVEHICLESVESSELSWAREHOUSINGWELFARE IMPACTSWELFARE LOSSWORLD TRADEWORLD TRADE ORGANIZATIONWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4423