International and Regional Trade Promotion through Research Analysis and Awareness

According to the WTO report, Asia is leading in new preferenatial trade integration agreements. The World Trade Report 2011, which was presented to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) members on 27 July 2011 in Bangkok, observes that Asia is leading in new trade integration agreements. Asian countries have become some of the most active in signing preferential trade agreements (PTAs). They have been party to almost half the preferential trade agreements concluded in the last 10 years. This has contributed to the increased concentration of trade within the region — second only to Europe in 2009.

Burgeoning bilateral and regional trade agreements meet the need to regulate global production and can benefit non-members, but the WTO’s multilateral system also has a role in reducing the resulting complexity, according to the latest edition of the organization’s flagship publication released on 20 July 2011 in Geneva.

Although Asia is leading in preferential trade integration agreements, it seems that most of the countries are also in pursuit of deeper integration by going beyond tariffs and other measures at national borders. Preferential trade integration agreements increasingly are including domestic policies such as regulations on services and investment, intellectual property protection and competition policy, which the report calls “deep PTAs”. “These trends raise vital questions about the focus and reach of the WTO, and the value assigned by governments to globally-based trade relations,” Director-General Pascal Lamy said.