Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum 2009, 25-26 November 2009, Bangkok, Thailand

Background

This Forum aims to promote trade facilitation as an important component of a comprehensive strategy for national and regional development. The Forum will provide an open regional platform to exchange information, experiences and practices for trade facilitation in Asia-Pacific, identify priority areas for regional cooperation and integration, and learn about new tools and services which can increase the efficiency of cross-border transactions and ultimately improve the competitiveness of firms in the region. The Forum intends to strengthen regional cooperation and coordination of technical assistance and capacity building in trade facilitation. Participants will include government officials, traders and public and private service providers from Central Asia, South, Southeast and East Asia as well as the South Pacific.

Objectives

• Enable sharing of experiences and knowledge on trade facilitation between countries of the region
• Foster increased understanding and exchange of views between public and private stakeholders
• Learn about and draw lessons from on-going implementation of regional trade facilitation initiatives
• Identify recurring or emerging challenges in key areas of trade facilitation (Transit, computerization and automation; and Supply- chain security and risk management) and evolve a regional agenda for action
• Introduce relevant international tools, instruments, and facilities aimed at increasing the efficiency of regional and global cross-border trade

Who should participate?

• Senior government officials involved in import, export, and transit policy, facilitation and control – To learn from the experience of some of the most successful countries in the region, as well as gain insights from those of other countries that may face similar difficulties; To gain a unique understanding of the regional trade facilitation situation and to increase awareness of available tools and solutions to reduce red tape and improve competitiveness; To interact with experienced developer of electronic trade facilitation systems and donors for possible collaboration.
• International organizations and development agencies with an interest or on-going activities on trade facilitation in Asia-Pacific – To share information on their activities and initiatives they support in the area of trade facilitation; To learn what others are doing in this area and identify opportunities for cooperation and potential synergies.
• Trade facilitation service providers – to inform and network with participants from a unique set of emerging economies about services offered and potential impact on trade efficiency; To understand the problems faced by traders, regulators and development agencies and identify opportunities for the development of relevant services and solutions.
• Trade and development policy analysts and researchers from the region – to share findings with policy makers and other government officials influencing or implementing trade regulations; to understand the practical problems faced by traders, regulators and development agencies and identify relevant research questions accordingly.

Format of the event

• Plenary sessions: These sessions will feature panels of experienced policy makers/analysts/presenters/experts to introduce selected issues of broad regional relevance and interest, followed by open discussion.
• Breakout sessions: These sessions will provide an opportunity for participants to meet in smaller groups and for government representatives to share their country experience on a selected topic (e.g., transit facilitation) in particular to present the challenges they face in implementing selected trade facilitation measures, how they have addressed them, and TA/CB they may need. Tools and instruments directly relevant to the selected topic discussed in the breakout session will be presented. Each breakout session will be mandated to identify specific issues in which regional cooperation/coordination may be particularly helpful, and to report it for discussion in plenary.
• Multimedia Exhibition: to maximize information sharing, trade facilitation service providers, researchers/analysts, as well as development/donor agencies, international organizations and government agencies are invited to prepare posters and/or interactive multimedia presentations highlighting their work or presenting relevant case studies or findings.