LAEBA FTA Impact Studies

The conference on FTA Impacts Studies was successfully held in Tokyo at ADBI on 26 January 2009. The event was co-organized by ADB, ADBI, and the Inter-American Development Bank under the framework of the Latin America/Caribbean–Asia/Pacific Economics and Business Association (LAEBA). The conference was divided into four sessions. The first three sessions highlighted the results of various countries’ firm-level surveys on the business impacts of Asian and Latin American foreign trade agreements (FTAs). The findings show that awareness plays a fundamental role in FTA utilization rates, and that though current costs associated with multiple FTAs are not a serious concern to businesses, there are indications that the problem could worsen in coming years. Thus, it is vital that policymakers begin to address these issues now to mitigate foreseeable problems.

The final session was a panel discussion that included representatives from government and industry, on possible policy prescriptions in fostering FTA usage and avoiding potential pitfalls. Recommendations included greater involvement of industry associations and targeted support for SMEs.

The conference was attended by policymakers from Asia and Latin America, representatives of the academe, government, non-government, and private institutions.

See more details about the conference.

In December 2008, Douglas H. Brooks left his post as a Senior Research Fellow at ADBI to return to ADB: “My three years at ADBI involved an interesting combination of growth and transition for the institute with the chance to concentrate my research on interactions between trade and infrastructure for an extended period while interacting with a wide range of government officials and other researchers from member countries.”