Despite challenging environment Pakistan offers relatively efficient border administration for enabling trade

Despite challenging environment Pakistan offers relatively efficient border administration for enabling trade. 

Global Enabling Trade Report 2014, World Economic Forum

Failure to Tackle Trade Reforms Puts Social and Economic Progress at Risk. Pakistan Ranks at 114 among 138 Countries on the Enabling Trade Index of the World Economic Forum.

The report’s Enabling Trade Index indicates that the world’s large emerging economies face enormous challenges as they seek to enable trade and progress to the next stage of their development. Barriers to trade are holding back the global economic recovery. Many governments are still failing to enact sometimes-straightforward reforms that could have a far-reaching effect on growth and social progress, according to The Global Enabling Trade Report (GETR).

Pakistan has been ranked at 114 among the 138 countries being evaluated on the Global Trade Enabling Index of the World Economic Forum. There are number of challenges in Pakistan’s economy which effects country’s performance on Global Enabling Trade Index. However despite challenging environment Pakistan offers relatively efficient border administration systems for enabling trade with Pakistan.

“Pakistan’s performance on the four sub-indices is also reflective of its integration into the global trade, where Pakistan has been ranked as 128 on Market Access, 71 on Border Administration, 95 on the Transport and Communications Infrastructure and 123 on the Business Environment”, this was revealed by Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan, a country partner institute of the World Economic Forum.

“After several difficult years trying to advance the Doha Round, the Bali package, with the Trade Facilitation Agreement at its centre, provides a much-needed window to focus on eliminating the practical obstacles to trade. In this light, we believe the report’s unique measurements will help leaders to identify successful policies and areas for improvement,” said Espen Barth Eide, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.

In the SAARC region, Pakistan outperformed Bangladesh and Nepal at 115 and 116 respectively on the Global Trade Enabling Index but lacked behind Sri Lanka (84), India (96) and Bhutan (107).

 

Among the BRICs, China, the world’s largest exporter, ranks 54th out of 138 economies, a few notches ahead of South Africa (59th).  Brazil (86th), India (96th) and the Russian Federation (105th) achieve disappointing performances, appearing in the bottom half of the ranking. Turkey (56th) leads the MINT group, ahead of Indonesia (58th) and Mexico (61st).  Nigeria (124th) is near the bottom.

Common barriers to trade in the developing and emerging world include red tape at borders, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and low levels of security. Among advanced economies, most apply low import tariffs, but some, such as Switzerland, Norway and EU members, have complex tariff regimes that are hard to navigate.

The good news is that some of these barriers, such as inefficiencies related to border clearance, can be removed relatively quickly, at a low cost and using limited political capital. The Report points to a number of success stories ranging from Chile (8th), to Malaysia (25th) and Mauritius (29th) that have been able to considerably improve their standing through targeted reforms and investments.

The Global Enabling Trade Report 2014 assesses the performance of 138 economies, in four areas: market access; border administration; infrastructure; and the operating environment. At the top end of the scale, the Index shows Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, and the Netherlands as the most successful countries in terms of enabling trade.

The assessment is based on the Enabling Trade Index, a methodology that measures the extent to which economies have in place institutions, policies, infrastructures and services facilitating the free flow of goods over borders and to their destination. These trade-enabling factors are organized in seven pillars: 1) domestic market access; 2) foreign market access; 3) efficiency and transparency of border administration; 4) availability and quality of transport infrastructure; 5) availability and quality of transport services; 6) availability and use of ICTs; and 7) operating environment. For this fifth edition of the report, the framework has been improved and enriched with a number of new indicators.To measure these various aspects, a total of 56 individual indicators were sourced from various international organizations, including the International Trade Centre, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Bank, as well as World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey. The Executive Opinion Survey is done by Mishal Pakistan in close collaboration with WEF in Pakistan. Other data partners include the Global Express Association.These findings will be discussed at a special session at the World Economic Forum on Latin America, which takes place in Panama, 1-3 April.

The Global Enabling Trade Report 2014 is part of the World Economic Forum’s Enabling Trade programme, supported by the Forum’s Supply Chain & Transport Industry Partnership community, which includes A.P. Möller Maersk, AB Volvo, Agility, Brambles Limited, Brightstar Corp., Deutsche Post DHL, DNB ASA, Emirates Group, International Container Terminal Services Inc., Royal Vopak, Stena AB, Swiss International Airlines Ltd, Transnet SOC Ltd, UPS and Volkswagen AG.