Economies in the region have shown continued progress in streamlining trade procedures despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent supply chain disruptions and surge in shipping costs which hit an all-time peak this year, a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) titled 'Supply Chains of Critical Goods amid the Covid-19 Pandemic: Disruption, Recovery and Resilience has shown.
The study highlights the role of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and the related UN treaty on cross-border paperless trade in Asia and the Pacific to accelerate recovery post-Covid-19 while trade openness remains a key element.
GLOBAL AND REGIONAL COOPERATION
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the weakest or weaker links in vaccine and PPE supply chains. Given acute shortages in global supply of vaccines and PPE, swift international support and cooperation for building a seamless pipeline to ensure continuity of supply is critical. During COVID-19, many regional cooperation measures came into practice to mitigate the adversities. About two-thirds of 20 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) member economies implemented new trade facilitation measures, such as electronic submissions of trade-related documents and information, to mitigate supply chain disruptions caused by closed workplaces, rising infections, and social distancing.
ADB's Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility is also designed to support equitable distribution of COVID vaccines among its developing member countries. ADB also mobilised assistance for food and nutrition that targeted vulnerable groups across the region. ADB launched the Rapid Emergency Supplies Provision Project for the Philippines that provided instalments of food to vulnerable households.
OPEN TRADE AND TRADE FACILITATION
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