In recent years the tremendous growth of the service sector—including international trade in services—has outstripped that of manufacturing in many industrialized nations. As the importance of services has grown, economists have begun to focus on policy issues raised by them and have tried to understand what, if any, differences there are between production and delivery of goods and services. This volume is the first book-length attempt to analyze trade in services in the Asia-Pacific region. Contributors provide overviews of basic issues involved in studying the service sector; investigate the impact of increasing trade in services on the economies of Taiwan, Korea, and Hong Kong; present detailed analyses of specific service sectors (telecommunications, financial services, international tourism, and accounting); and extend our understanding of trade in services beyond the usual concept (measured in balance of payment statistics) to include indirect services and services undertaken abroad by subsidiaries and affiliates.

The editor of this book is to be congratulated for providing us with the works of a group of authors who combine proficient technical skills with elegant and lucid writing capabilities. . . This book would make excellent recommended reading for both undergraduate and graduate classes in international trade and finance. Herb Thompson, Journal of Contemporary Asia This book is based on the premise that Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) in the Asia-Pacific significantly impact on the material progress of the peoples of this region. These impacts in terms of the benefits and costs associated with RTAs will vary greatly from country to country. The internationally acclaimed contributors examine the theoretical perspective of RTAs in relation to exchange rates, the role and goals of the WTO and agriculture. The tensions and trade frictions resulting from the formation of trade blocs and their conflicts with the roles and goals of the WTO are also examined in the book. Those economies that are considered the economic powerhouses of the region including China, Japan, South Korea, major ASEAN countries and Australia are discussed in depth. The findings of the book suggest that RTAs are becoming increasingly popular in the Asia-Pacific region. However the associated costs and benefits depend on a number of complex factors including exchange rates, negotiation skills, the sectors included or excluded from the RTA, and the level of economic development of the nations signing the RTAs. The book will be particularly useful to academics, researchers, consultants, students, policy makers (including trade negotiators), and practitioners involved in trade and development in the Asia-Pacific region.

This volume, first published in 1970, assesses the major reappraisal of US world commercial policy that took place in the 1960s – in particular the wishes for free trade treaties that would bring about the liberalisation of international trade.

International trade and investment have enabled many countries in the Asia-Pacific region to boost economic growth and have lifted millions out of poverty. As the Asia-Pacific region continues to thrive economically, trade and investment barriers are being dissolved and eliminated. As countries begin to depend on each other more, trade policy is gradually becoming a useful measure to achieve inclusive and sustainable development. Trade and investment are linked to the environment and social issues; hence, their impacts are also multi-dimensional. It has now been recognized that sustainable production and consumption are essential for sustainable development. Countries realize that they are not able to approach global and regional problems on their own and require cooperation, both at the level of government and business. As a result, the region has been active in concluding regional cooperation frameworks which routinely are centered on trade and investment. In the meantime, business has forged regional integration through the formation of regional value chains and production networks while governments have paved the way for the expansion of such production networks through the formation of regional trade agreements and economic partnerships. Thus, the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), which is the oldest preferential trade agreement in the region with a large consumer base, can play an important role in filling this gap. Given a slow progress in the multilateral negotiations in the WTO, especially when the members have started questioning the utility of the negotiations after 15 years, and a lack of consensus on how to move forward, the regional trade agreements can play a vital role. Even if they pose a challenge to the multilateralism, selected liberalisation of trade and economy in present time can become a building block for future multilateral negotiations. One of the reasons for the surge in these preferential trade agreements is to make binding commitments on WTO-plus and WTO-beyond issues. While there are many agreements that exist in Asia and the Pacific, there is no such attempt to consolidate them in one umbrella framework. Understanding the benefits of the consolidation, one such initiative was started by ESCAP a few years back. The RECI initiate for market integration could well be facilitated by APTA; however, it cannot deliver unless it transforms itself in a new generation agreement. Regional integration and cooperation are also important to meet the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Instead of wasting resources in discussing a new institutional framework, it would be more effective to use the existing framework and for the Asia-Pacific economies, the APTA provides an existing institutional platform. The cases discussed in this book prepare a ground for the future, and it is expected that all the stakeholders, member States of ESCAP, private sector as well as researchers would benefit from this publication on APTA: South-South Regional Integration and Sustainable Development.

The role of Aid for Trade (AfT) in promoting the growth and tradability of services is important, given that it is a major catalyst for inclusive economic and structural transformation. This report highlights emerging trends in AfT in the context of evolving trade performance in Asia and the Pacific. In particular, the impact of AfT on trade in services, thereby helping increase economic and job opportunities for women, and the rise of e-commerce. The report ends by considering policy implications of the experiences of geographically-challenged economies of the region along the dimensions of trade costs, AfT, trade in services, and the role of the digital economy.