News
UN & ADB call for stronger supply chains and more inclusive trade
The United Nations and the Asian Development Bank are calling on the region’s governments to strengthen supply chains, particularly to ensure the delivery of critical goods.
A joint report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the ADB found that trade in goods has recovered strongly from last year’s Covid-driven slump.
The report said APAC governments managed to cut red tape and keep trade flowing but noted that some essential supplies were not getting delivered.
“As workers fell ill amid the mobility and safety restrictions, food supplies were disrupted, especially as export bans emerged in major food crop producing countries,” Said Bambang Susantono Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development at the ADB. “Likewise, for PPE, the early stages of the pandemic curtailed supplies, particularly with supply chains concentrated in a few countries and lean inventory systems as the norm. Quickly boosting production globally proved difficult. And for vaccines, with only a few countries able to manufacture them, upscaling production for global provision of this one great defence against the virus has been challenging,” he said.
The report praised APAC governments for accelerating the digitalisation of trade procedures.
“ Cross-border trade digitalisation has great potential to help countries in Asia and the Pacific access critical goods, especially those most vulnerable to trade uncertainty and crisis,” said UNESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana. He noted that further acceleration of the process could cut average trade costs in the region by more than 13 percent.
The report also called for more to be done to ensure that trade is inclusive to ensure that the recovery is sustainable. It said small and medium-sized enterprises, women and the agricultural sector need to be supported.