Exports from the Asia Pacific region are expected to grow at a robust rate of 10.5 per cent next year, led by China, India, Turkey and Malaysia, the United Nations regional economic organisation has revealed.
The Asia Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2010 released Thursday by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said the strong performance of exports and trade in general was the result of a vibrant China, which imported intermediate goods from the rest of Asia and exported finished goods to the world.
"While the stimulation of domestic demand and investment has also played an important role in reviving many economies, we find that exports continue to be a major engine of growth in the region. As a result, Asia's share in world exports continues to rise," ESCAP Trade and Investment Division Director Ravi Ratnayake said in a statement.
The report noted that intra-regional trade had increased but remained largely focused on intermediate goods, while exports of finished goods and services were still dependant mainly on western markets.
"In developed country markets, Asia Pacific exports often face murky protectionism with measures that are imposed ostensibly for health reasons or environmental protection purposes but are really hidden measures to protect domestic industries," Ratnayake said.
The report also commented that while many countries of the region were trading more, "only some are trading more efficiently", adding that China had made impressive progress in reducing its international trade costs, now ranking along with Germany and Malaysia as one of the economies with the lowest international trade costs.
Ratnayake noted that there was a lot more to do in streamlining and simplifying trade procedures in the region. "It still takes three times longer to complete trade procedures in Asia Pacific developing economies than in developed economies such as Australia, Japan and New Zealand," he said.
