SME Competitiveness Outlook: Meeting the Standard for TradeStandards and regulations for goods and services are important to international trade and value chains. They ensure consumer protection, determine compatibility, and promote environmental sustainability. This SME Competitiveness Outlook focuses on helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) make the most of standards and regulations to increase their competitiveness. Findings include strategies for SME managers on selecting and implementing standards and regulations, and an action plan for policymakers and trade and investment support institutions involved in aiding SMEs compete in markets where standards and regulations matter. Author: International Trade Centre Year: 2016 Download Tags: Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, WTO, Global Value Chains Trade Costs and Inclusive Growth: Case Studies Presented by WTO Chair-holdersThese contributions from participants of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Chairs Programme—which supports trade-related activities by academic institutions in developing countries—offer insightful research on opportunities that open up for developing countries when trade costs are reduced. Analyzing the potential impact of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement implementation in various developing regions of the world, this publication offers detailed country-level analysis on benefits of trade facilitation, including export diversification, greater global value chain participation, insertion of SMEs into international trade, the attraction of more foreign direct investments, and better governance. Author: Robert Teh, Maarten Smeets, Mustapha Sadni Jallab and Fatima Chaudhri, editors Year: 2016 Download Tags: Trade Facilitation, Global Value Chains, Small and medium enterprises, FDI, Governance, WTO  Making the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement Work for SMEsSmall and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) comprise 95% of enterprises worldwide and provides at least two thirds of private sector employment. However, when it comes to international trade, SMEs experience limited capacity in dealing with the complex administrative and regulatory procedures associated with moving and selling goods across borders. This book fills a gap by providing a reference for articles of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) that are particularly beneficial to SMEs, and identifies examples of SME-specific programs, measures and interventions that can support the implementation of such provisions. It proposes mainstreaming relevant elements of the WTO TFA in existing SME policies and initiatives, to ensure that it contributes toward internationalization of SMEs.
Author: UNESCAP, UNNExT, and ITC Year: 2016 Download Tags: Small and Medium Enterprise, Trade Facilitation, Trade, UNESCAP, Small and Medium Enterprises, India, Nepal SME Competitiveness and Aid for Trade: Connecting Developing Country SMEs to Global Value ChainsThis joint ITC-WTO study discusses constraints faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in international trade, particularly by least developed countries. It reviews how Aid for Trade addresses these challenges through a sample of 23 Diagnostic Trade Integration Studies. Three bottlenecks emerge – quality of business environment, access to finance, and lack of institutional support to overcome trade-related challenges. This study also highlights actions taken by companies to integrate SMEs into their supply chains and concludes with an analysis of recent private sector program evaluations. Author: International Trade Centre and World Trade Organization Year: 2014 Download Tags: SME, Trade, Private Sector, Small and Medium Enterprises, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sustainability  Impacts of Trade Facilitation Measures on Poverty and Inclusive Growth: Case Studies from Asia - A Study by the Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on TradeThis book addresses the gap between trade facilitation and poverty reduction and contains a compilation of specific case studies that explores the linkages between trade facilitation measures and poverty. It also presents cross-country analysis that examines inequality in low- and middle-income countries. Other chapters discuss economic corridors and microfinance development as trade facilitation measures and examine access to trade facilitation by export-oriented micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. It also explores barriers to international entrepreneurship for the vegetable business in Bangladesh. Finally, it offers a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of Export Processing Zones (EPZs) on poverty reduction. Author: Ravi Ratnayake, Rajan Sudesh Ratna, Martina Francesca Ferracane and Yann Duval Year: 2013 Download Tags: Trade Facilitation, Bangladesh, Trade, Poverty Reduction, Economic Corridor, Small and medium enterprises, India, SAARC, Customs, Pakistan  Beyond Factory Asia: Fuelling Growth in a Changing WorldThis paper assesses the challenges of Factory Asia – a model of regional networks connecting production centers in different Asian economies. It forms part of regional and global value chains and constitutes an important source of growth in the region. Regional cooperation is vital to the success of Factory Asia, which calls for greater South-South cooperation to leverage knowledge in domestic manufacturing, allowing countries such as India to leapfrog to higher value chains. For Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with small domestic markets, strategic options include carving out a niche in lower-value manufacturing. The paper further argues that policymakers should be wary of expanding or increasing the number of free trade agreements for the growth or spread of production networks. Author: Asian Development Bank Year: 2013 Download Tags: South Asia, Regional Cooperation, Trade Policy, Manufacturing, Exports, Small and medium enterprises, India, Agriculture, Bangladesh |
