Asia Summit 2020

Navigating Trade Challenges and Opportunities in Asia-Pacific

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the difficulty of maintaining complex global value chains. Just-in-time production and logistics models are under stress due to surging demand, while health regulations and export controls increase barriers to trade. Many companies have been forced to re-price risk because of the effects of climate change as well as rising political tensions that lead to higher tariffs. In the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for more than one-third of global merchandise trade, flows were already slowing before the pandemic, dropping 2.8 percent in 2019. But the newly signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement offers a silver lining for renewed multilateral cooperation in Asia-Pacific. How might RCEP restore trade growth in the post-pandemic period? Is there a need to configure regional supply chains to reduce disruptions and improve resilience? Will exporters seek consumers in advanced economies, or new opportunities in markets throughout the Asia-Pacific countries?