The Diagnostic Trade Integration Study identifies the following actions centered around four pillars to sustain and accelerate export growth: (1) breaking into new markets through a) better trade logistics to reduce delivery lags; as world markets become more competitive and newer products demand shorter lead times, to generate new sources of competitiveness and thereby enable market diversification; and b) better exploitation of regional trading opportunities in nearby growing and dynamic markets, especially East and South Asia; (2) breaking into new products through a) more neutral and rational trade policy and taxation and bonded warehouse schemes; b) concerted efforts to spur domestic investment and attract foreign direct investment, to contribute to export promotion and diversification, including by easing the energy and land constraints; and c) strategic development and promotion of services trade; (3) improving worker and consumer welfare by a) improving skills and literacy; b) implementing labor and work safety guidelines; and c) making safety nets more effective in dealing with trade shocks; and (4) building a supportive environment, including a) sustaining sound macroeconomic fundamentals; and b) strengthening the institutional capacity for strategic policy making aimed at the objective of international competitiveness to help bring focus and coherence to the government's reform efforts.

This toolkit provides a novel approach and a set of tools that allow policymakers and analysts to identify non-tariff measures (NTMs), assess their trade restrictiveness and impact on prices and welfare, and to strengthen the institutional coordination mechanism, transparency, and regulatory governance on NTMs. It also aims at encouraging economies to increasingly address the NTM agenda from a domestic competitiveness and/or poverty perspective rather than from a mercantilist standpoint of concessions to trading partners. NTMs are policy measures, other than ordinary customs tariffs, that can potentially have an economic effect on international trade in goods, changing quantities traded, or prices or both. While most NTMs are already subject to WTO disciplines, the main challenge is to allow governments to address public policy concerns without unnecessarily hurting trade competitiveness and while preventing disguised protectionism. This toolkit is predicated on the idea that the complexity and diversity of NTMs should be recognized. Problems should be identified at the country level through consultations with the private sector, and technical solutions should be sought through careful analysis and private/public dialogue. The underlying philosophy is similar to what is known as "Regulatory Impact Assessment" (RIA), but applied to the review of existing measures (no ex ante analysis), in response to specific demands from countries struggling with legacies of complicated and penalizing regulations. Dealing with existing measures has the advantage of responding to an immediate need and focusing on measures whose effects are known. The toolkit is organized as follows. Chapter 1 discusses the newly revamped NTM classification and pervasiveness of NTM. Chapter 2 elaborates on the analytics of an NTM review, walking the reader step by step through the key questions. Chapter 3 focuses on the institutional set up and key principles to successfully pursue the streamlining of regulations. Finally, chapters 4 and 5 provide some practical cases of streamlining both at the country and regional levels, and for product specific examples.

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest U.S. investment bank filed for bankruptcy. Global credit markets tightened. Spreads skyrocketed. International trade plummeted by double digits. Banks were reportedly unable to meet the demand from their customers to finance their international trade operations, leaving a trade finance 'gap' estimated at around US$25 billion. Governments and international institutions felt compelled to intervene based on the information that some 80-90 percent of world trade relies on some form of trade finance. As the recovery unfolds, the time has come to provide policy makers and analysts with a comprehensive assessment of the role of trade finance in the 2008-09 great trade collapse and the subsequent role of governments and institutions to help restore trade finance markets. After reviewing the underpinning of trade finance and interfirm trade credit, 'Trade Finance during the Great Trade Collapse' aims to answer the following questions: - Was the availability and cost of trade finance a major constraint on trade during the 2008-09 global economic crisis? - What are the underpinnings and limits of national and international public interventions in support of trade finance markets in times of crisis? - How effective were the public and private sector mechanisms put in place during the crisis to support trade and trade finance? - To what extent have the new banking regulations under Basel II and Basel III exacerbated the trade finance shortfall during the crisis and in the post-crisis environment, respectively? 'Trade Finance during the Great Trade Collapse' is the product of a fruitful collaboration during the crisis among the World Bank Group, international financial partners, private banks, and academia. 'Trade is the lifeblood of the world economy, and the sharp collapse in trade volumes was one of the most dramatic consequences of the global financial crisis. It was the moment the financial crisis hit the real economy, and when parts of the world far from the epicenter of financial turbulence felt its full fury. This book is extremely timely and full of critical insights into the role of trade finance and the potential damaging impact from the unintended consequences of regulatory changes.' --Peter Sands, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank