Readiness assessment for cross-border paperless trade
Cross-border paperless trade has great potential to not only grow trade competitiveness, but also to support to nurture enabling environments for e-commerce and digital trade, which is instrumental for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially women and young entrepreneurs to benefit from trade. Paperless trade has also been recognized as an effective way to mitigate trade disruptions during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond, providing for more seamless and resilient trade opportunities. However, paperless trade requires policy decisions, a robust technical infrastructure and a modern, efficient and effective legal environment.
Paperless trade supports the post-pandemic recovery of countries, with many direct benefits, such as minimizing human interaction and increasing visibility and traceability of shipments. Moreover, the availability of online tools and support throughout the COVID-19 pandemic minimized the disruptions of providing capacity building and technical assistance to countries. 8 assessment were conducted (Armenia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Uzbekistan). Currently, there are 6 other countries with ongoing readiness assessment studies (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Philippines, Tonga, Viet Nam), enabled by the online platform as well as various virtual support provided.
A webinar session in the Festival of Inclusive Trade 2021 - Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA) Date: 26 October 2021
