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The Global Enabling Trade Report 2009
Published 07 July 2009
 East Asian economies – Singapore and Hong Kong SAR – occupy the top two positions in the Enabling Trade Index ranking, followed by Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden, according to The Global Enabling Trade Report 2009, released today by the World Economic Forum. Canada, Norway, Finland, Austria and the Netherlands complete the top-10 list.
The Global Enabling Trade Report 2009 measures and analyzes institutions, policies, and services enabling trade in national economies around the world, highlighting for policymakers a country’s strengths and the challenges to be addressed. The Report includes the most current data and recent analysis of the factors enabling trade in industrialized and emerging economies, as well as the latest thinking and research from trade experts and industry practitioners.
The Report presents the rankings of the updated Enabling Trade Index (ETI), developed by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with international trade experts and leaders from the logistics and transport industry. It is a comprehensive index intended to capture the full range of issues that contribute to impeding trade, ranking nations according to factors that facilitate the free flow of goods across national borders and to destination.
Since the publication of the Report in 2008, the Index has been enhanced by explicitly introducing the export dimension. The last section of the Report contains detailed profiles for the 121 economies covered by the ETI.
In addition, the Report includes insightful contributions from a number of trade experts. Among these essays are explorations of different aspects of trade facilitation, such as the availability of trade finance in the current financial climate, analysis of non-tariff barriers, and global efforts in the area of trade facilitation. A particular focus this year is on customs, a key area of the Doha negotiations.
Watch video interviews with some of the Report co-editors:
Interview with Robert Z. Lawrence, Albert L. Williams Professor of Trade and Investment, Harvard University, and Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz, Senior Economist, World Economic Forum.
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Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz
World Economic Forum
07 July 2009 - 3min
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Robert Z. Lawrence
Harvard University
07 July 2009 - 3min
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Quotes
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In an increasingly interconnected world, trade is a key enabler of development and prosperity. As a global provider of mail and express services, TNT experiences this each and every day. In order to fully reap the benefits of globalization, governments need to adopt stable and trade-friendly policies. The Enabling Trade Report, with its in-depth and comprehensive overview of trade barriers, should help governments around the world to identify areas of improvement and action.
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Peter Bakker, CEO, TNT
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The publication of World Economic Enabling Trade Report is very timely as it helps to highlight the obstacles that are impediments to Global Trade. The world will not emerge from the current recession without a reliance on global Trade. Global Trade is one of the most important tools we have to lift us out of the economic crisis. This Report can be very helpful for Governments and regulators to identify bottlenecks in the global supply chain and analyze how those can best addressed. Of course some measures require enormous investments and take a long time before they are completed, like the improvement of infrastructure. Other initiatives like removing "red tape" and simplifying customs procedures can be accomplished relatively easy. Study after study shows a correlation between the level of Trade Facilitation offered by a country and the Economic Progress of that Country. This study will give new impetus to make improvements in this area.
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Scott Davis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer UPS
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