The seventh session of the Committee on Trade and Investment of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) stressed the role of international trade and investment and resilient supply chains in COVID-19 recovery. High-level delegates endorsed several recommendations, and underscored the role of cooperation in recovery.

ESCAP convened the Committee’s meeting from 27-29 January 2021. It took place alongside the seventh Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Week, a series of virtual events on trade policy responses to the pandemic, digital trade facilitation, graduation from least developed country (LDC) status, and capacity building and analytical tools developed by ESCAP.

In 2020, ESCAP estimates, Asia and the Pacific lost USD 2.2 trillion in trade based on pre-pandemic growth forecasts. Trade in services was affected the most. Foreign investment also recorded significant declines.

UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, said the region needs to build on and expand existing cooperation frameworks, including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Framework Agreement on Facilitating Paperless Trade, and the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement. She emphasized the importance of pushing “the frontiers of cooperation” to meet the challenges of post-COVID-19 recovery. Other participants highlighted the role of the rules-based trading system and regional economic architecture in enabling economic growth and recovery, including to deliver employment, well-being, and sustainable development.

Delegates endorsed a number of recommendations to restore greater cooperation among countries and address the pandemic’s effects, including to resist unilateral protectionist actions, particularly in sectors linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to promote inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) in support of sustainable development. They also supported efforts to safeguard and strengthen the rules-based multilateral trading system (MTS) and to harmonize digital trade rules.

The Committee recommended ESCAP continue enhancing the Trade Intelligence and Negotiation Advisor (TINA), an online tool that aims to support preparations for trade negotiations, including features that enable trade agreement text analysis. ESCAP notes that tasks such as analytical and data management are time consuming when performed manually. TINA automates these tasks, enabling countries with limited resources to benefit from a similar level of preparation as larger economies. Most recently, the Government of Bangladesh used TINA to assist with a feasibility study of a trade agreement between Bangladesh and India. [ESCAP Press Release] [Seventh Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Week] [ESCAP Webpage on TINA] [ESCAP February Newsletter]