ARTNeT welcomes its No. 70 institutional member - Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), India. Established in 1926, SRCC is a pioneer in the field of Commerce and Economics education in India. With a vision of being "A College of Global Choice", SRCC aims at development and integration of the highest standards of quality in every aspect of its institutional functioning from teaching to research and to contribute to development of local, national and international communities. The focal contact for ARTNeT is Dr. Mallika Kumar. 

ARTNeT welcomes its No. 71 institutional member - Global Economic Law Network (GELN), one of the research centers in Melbourne Law School, specializing in international trade law, international investment law, international financial law and international arbitration. GELN activities include holding workshops and seminars, encouraging research and collaboration, and providing a way for interested persons to keep abreast of developments in GELN's focus areas. The focal contact for ARTNeT is Prof. Andrew Mitchell. 

This paper looks at the role of applied services regulations in accounting for WTO+ commitments on trade in services in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) among Asian economies. The empirical findings suggest that Asian trading dyads with regulatory frameworks that are more similar and more trade-restrictive tend to undertake higher levels of WTO+ commitments on services in their PTAs. There is also evidence in the results for such WTO+ commitments being driven by goods trade complementarities, alluding to the importance of supply chain dynamics in the region. Such results support the hypothesis that the heightened “servicification” of production generates a greater demand for lower services input costs and for certainty against possible new and disruptive services barriers.

For the full text of the AWP178 by Anirudh Shingal, Martin Roy and Pierre Sauvé please visit here. 

The future of the Export Credit Agency (ECA) of the United States, the US Export Import Bank (EXIM Bank), has been a controversial subject for the past presidential terms as proponents and opponents have been unable to agree on whether the EXIM Bank actually promotes US exports and generate American jobs. Of particular interest is the question of the environmental impact of the credit granted. In this policy brief, the authors examine the political complexity behind the role of US EXIM Bank in promoting climate compatible development in the past decade and offer insight into its potential future contribution to climate related actions.

For the full text of the APB52 by Natasha agarwal and Louis Dupuy please visit here. 

The ARTNeT e-Forum complements and enhances ARTNeT’s focus on advocacy, by hosting and sharing thoughts and ideas on trade, investment and development from members of the ARTNeT community. Online now are views on multilateralism and the WTO shared by Peter Lloyd of the University of Melbourne, Simon Evenett of St. Gallen University, Patrick Low of the University of Hong Kong and Bitwajit Dhar contributed his reaction to the recent change in the US tariff on steel and aluminium.

We encourage members of the ARTNeT community to contribute their ideas and start discussions by sending us submissions for the e-Forum at artnetontrade@un.org.

ARTNeT secretariat want to remind you again that ARTNeT has launched our new website with a modern, user-friendly design and acts as an information repository providing the ARTNeT Community with latest information on members & partners, events, publications, and relevant databases. In particular, the new platform adds the option to search for ARTNeT working papers and other types of publications on a particular topic of interest - visit us now! 

ARTNeT Secretariat is standing with the global movement for women’s rights, equality and justice. Asia-Pacific’s progress on gender equality remains much too slow, we would like to remind all members and partners that we all have duty and obligation to create an equal environment to all women, ensuring all women are valued and free from discrimination of any kind.

We also encourge research and training with gender focuses - please share your work with us or share your thoughts with us via ARTNeT e-Forum.

ARTNeT secretariat expresses congratulations to our member PIDS who welcomed its new and first female president, Dr. Celia M. Reyes. She took her oath on March 1 before PIDS Board Chairperson and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia at the NEDA head office in Pasig City.

For the full news and more works of PIDS please visit here. 

A new portal has been launched by the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) to provide a platform for the exchange of news, information and experiences on trade and development in least-developed countries (LDCs).

Check the portal now here. 

The Organizing Committee, consisting of the academia from CCSU Meerut (India), UNIPU (Croatia) and EFZG (Croatia), takes pleasure to invite economists – university professors, experts from financial institutions and international agencies, and the multinational corporations – to a round-table conference that will be hosted by the Ch. C S University of Meerut (UP) India from 26 to 28 November 2018. Authors are invited to contribute a paper (app. 4800 words) on one of the suggested themes. It is earnestly hoped that the contributors will observe the following recommended dates for submission.

For more information about this call please visit here. 

The 2nd international conference on Economics and development 2018 (ICED 2018) is the leading interdisciplinary platform for presentation of new and advanced research results in the fields of the economics & development. The conference will bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and scholars to exchange & share their experience, knowledge on all aspects of Economics and development from all around the world. The ICED 2018 is under the theme of “The Green Economy and Sustainable Development: Towards a New Research and Policy Agenda”. The organizing committee would cordially invite prospective participants to submit abstracts for consideration as oral, poster or virtual presentation.

For more information about the call please visit here. 

The Global Association of Master's in Development Practice Programs (MDP), in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), will hold the Sixth Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) on 26-28 September, 2018, at Columbia University in New York City. The conference theme is "Breaking Down Silos: Fostering Collaborative Action on the SDGs". The aim of the conference is to bring together persons involved in research, policy, practice, and business. Participants will share practical solutions for achieving the SDGs at local and national levels.

For more information about this call please visit here. 

The European Trade Study Group (ETSG) is a forum for academic discussion and research on international trade among universities and research institutes. Participation in ETSG activities is open to all academic and research economists. ETSG conferences are open to any researcher with an interest in international trade issues. Everyone can submit a paper for presentation.

For more information about this call please visit here. 

Master of Arts in Asia-Pacific Studies Program (MAPS) from our member, Thammasat University, provides students with the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the history, politics, law, and economies of the Asia-Pacific region. The program adopts multidisciplinary approaches to give students an understanding of contemporary regional issues; allows participants to integrate study of business, economics, politics and law; and prepares and trains graduates for careers in the public sector, diplomatic service, academic and research institutions, consultancies, and international organizations. The MAPS is now open for application. The deadline for scholarship application is 30 April 2018 (Monday) and for non-scholarship application is Friday 8 June 2018.

For more information please visit the website, Facebook or email: maps.tisic@gmail.com / maps.thammasat@gmail.com

Victoria University is looking for a position of research fellow/senior research fellow - Urban economic modeller.

For more information about this opportunity please visit here. 

Econometric analysis performed for this paper suggests that Pakistan is likely to import more from trading partners that have a larger manufacturing sector relative to their GDP for the majority of product categories. The impact is stronger for processed products. This implies a higher risk of import dependency and associated competitive pressure from imports on manufacturing activities within Pakistan.

For the full paper by Aadil Nakhoda and Farooq Pasha from our member IBA here. 

Digitalisation and the expansion of the digital economy – the convergence of fixed, mobile and broadcast networks, the increasing connectivity of devices and objects, and the changes in social interactions and personal relationships that these developments bring about – are reshaping the manufacturing and services sectors in Emerging Asia. These impacts are seen in the emergence of new ways of doing business and effects on trade and productivity trends. Policy makers in the region seeking to foster the continued responsible development of digitalisation should consider addressing trade restrictions, particularly those affecting trade in services; barriers to investment in the digital economy; the need for the development and reform of physical and regulatory infrastructure; and labour market and social challenges. Optimal policy strategies are likely to differ by country across the region.

For the full publication from our partner OECD please visit here. 

ARTNeT secretariat congratulates our advisor Dr. Biswajit Nag who was appointed a Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi. Biswajit has been involved in empirical economic research for close to two decades in addition to have taught both in India and overseas. Dr. Nag has completed number of projects for Government of India and international agencies such as UN, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, WTO, DFID etc. As one of ARTNeT advisers, he has been a regular contributor to ARTNeT conferences and research initiatives.  His current research interest covers areas of International Production Networks, Global Value Chains, Trade in Services, Regional Trade Agreements, Trade and Development etc. He is well known for developing sector based strategies in accessing international market. Dr. Nag is currently working on Trade and Technology with a focus on firm’s ability to absorb new technology and accelerate its involvement in International Trade. He is also conducting research on technology integration and employment in Indian exportable sector. For more details on Dr. Nag’s work and life please refer to here, more information on his book please visit here. 

ARTNeT secretariat congratulates Dr. Selim Raihan, Executive director of SANEM who has been appointed as the Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Humanities, the University of Manchester, UK (October 2017 - September 2020). He will be visiting the Effective States and Inclusive Development (ESID) Research Centre of the University of Manchester during 19-23 March 2018. For more details on Dr. Selim's work please visit here. 

Have you liked/ followed/ linked with us on social media? Connecting with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn allows you get the latest news sooner and share the news with friends easier!  

The ARTNeT Secretariat welcomes submissions of policy briefs, working papers, book reports, research reports, and book reviews by ARTNeT members, partners and collaborators. For any submission to be considered, the editorial 'Guidelines for Submissions to the ARTNeT Working Papers Series' must be adhered to.

If you are an ARTNeT member, partner or collaborator and would like to publicise your publications, research or events in the next newsletter, please e-mail us at artnetontrade@un.org.