Strengthening Regional Trade and Production Networks Through Transport Connectivity in South and South-West Asia

Prabir De ()

No 1401, Development Papers from United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) South and South-West Asia Office

Abstract: South and South-West Asia (SSWA) region has been able to improve intra-regional trade during the last decade. However, much is left to be done to realise the full trade potential between SSWA countries, which also share important complementarities that can become the basis of region-wide production networks. Such networks would enhance the combined productivity and competitiveness of SSWA, but their development is stifled by poor intra-regional connectivity status. The quality and capacity of the subregion’s infrastructure, both on the national and crossborder levels, is certainly a matter of concern. SSWA regional economic cooperation programmes have to be made much stronger to address regional infrastructure needs and build enabling institutions and policies. This paper observes, in the light of a case study of regional trade in ‘parts and components’, that SSWA countries must improve its supply chain connectivity considerably in order to effectively link their production units with global value chains. Further, a comparative analysis of efficiency across different modes of cross-border transportation in the subregion shows that overland transport corridors such as TIPI-BM and ITIDKD proposed by ESCAP can play important role in the development of regional production networks. In order to improve overland connectivity, a comprehensive and cooperative approach is needed to address the physical (hard) and non-physical (soft) infrastructure issues. The paper also supports the need of a regional connectivity masterplan to guide most optimal development of its connectivity requirements.

Keywords: South Asia; Trade; Regional transport connectivity; Trade facilitation; Regional integration; regional production networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F14 F15 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2014-07
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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