| | This issue of Trade Matters considers some of the ways developing nations can maintain or expand access to export markets in an increasingly turbulent global trade landscape. One is to boost trade in digital services, which avoids some of the physical barriers to trade in goods. Digital startup Gozem shows the promise that trade in such services shows for Africa – given the right regulatory environment. Across the continent,?exports of digital services are projected to increase?by US$74 billion from 2023 to 2040, doubling Africa's global share, according to a joint report by the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. Another promising path is to boost the capacity to meet the often exacting sanitary and phytosanitary standards – measures to protect the health and safety of consumers – that countries apply to imported goods. With the help of the World Bank and other development partners, Nepal now has a testing center where trained personnel can treat the country's exports of farm products to ensure they are free of pests. The new center offers hope of higher export sales and incomes for Nepali farmers. And finally, adopting cleaner production methods can increase access to markets that impose environmental standards on imports. Sébastien C. Dessus Practice Manager, Trade | | | Overcoming obstacles to trade in digital services in Africa | | | Photo by Gozem Media Gallery | | | An African startup, Gozem, shows the promise that trade in services holds for Africa, as well as some of the barriers it faces. Started in 2018 as a motorcycle-hailing app, Gozem has since morphed into a super app offering everything from food delivery to vehicle leasing. Digitally delivered services like these avoid some of the obstacles to trade in Africa, such as poor roads and cumbersome border procedures. Fulfilling the potential for digital services trade, however, will require improvements to the regulatory environment. A?World Bank-WTO analysis covering six African countries found that regulations are often outdated, insufficient, or overly restrictive, particularly in key areas such as cross-border data flows, e-signatures, and online consumer protection. The World Bank supports efforts to facilitate digital trade by providing technical assistance to draft comprehensive digital trade policies, investing in infrastructure to improve connectivity, and offering capacity-building programs for government officials to enhance their understanding of digital trade governance.?Read more here. | | | | | | Testing facility promises to open new export markets for Nepali farmers | | | Women Farmers in Rice Field, Nepal. Photo by Melissa Schalke | | | Nepal's newly acquired capacity to ensure that its exports of goods like ginger, cardamom, and rice are free of pests promises to open new overseas markets and boost farm incomes. Until recently, the lack of a treatment facility limited Nepal's access to certain high-value export markets with exacting sanitary and phytosanitary standards. So the World Bank and other development partners teamed up to help the mountainous country of 31 million people open a new testing facility and train inspectors. Studies show?that once a country complies with measures demanded by its trading partners, trading volumes can increase. That promises to make a big difference for Nepal, where agricultural products account for roughly 54 percent of its total goods exports. Read more here. | | TRADE & DEVELOPMENT CHART | | | How trade reduces greenhouse gas emissions | | | The production of traded goods is often blamed for contributing to climate change. Yet the Trade and Development Chart shows that reducing trade won't lower greenhouse gas emissions. The reason: In many developing countries, locally produced goods are more emissions-intensive than imports. Trade, by allocating resources more efficiently, makes it possible for the world to consume more goods while also reducing GHG emissions. | | | | | | Reading is important, but how can one keep up with the latest in trade while stuck in traffic, or left standing on a subway? Lead Economist Phil Levy suggests two good podcast options to complement all the books, journals, and websites: Trade Talks, hosted by Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, is back. It had gone on hiatus while Bown served as Chief Economist of the U.S. State Department, but it returned in February of this year. One recent episode featured Nobel laureate Paul Krugman talking about trade and industrial policy. For an alternative take on trade, William Reinsch and Scott Miller of the Center for Strategic and International Studies host The Trade Guys, a weekly show about the latest developments in trade and trade policy. Miller spent 15 years as director for global trade policy at Procter & Gamble, while Reinsch served as both president of the National Foreign Trade Council and as a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Recent Trade Guys conversations have included one with eminent trade historian Douglas Irwin of Dartmouth College and one on U.S.-India trade relations. Both podcasts are nontechnical and aimed at the general listener. | | | | |