According to UN Report, India is top trade facilitation performer in South Asian sub-region while Singapore and Korea lead East Asia in moving goods. The inaugural Global Report of the Trade Facilitation and Paperless Trade Implementation Survey provides data for 119 countries and serves as a useful basis for benchmarking and monitoring trade facilitation performance.

UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Shamshad Akhtar said these ‘next generation’ trade facilitation measures have great potential to reduce costs and boost trade, increasing the Asia-Pacific region’s export potential by more than USD 250 billion annually. According to the new report, efficient movement of goods is key to maintaining trade competitiveness, and enabling effective engagement of firms, in particular small and medium enterprises, with regional and global production networks.

The global average implementation rate of the ambitious set of trade facilitation measures considered in the report is about 53 percent. Developed economies average more than 75 percent implementation, while Pacific Island developing economies barely reach 26 percent.

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