development in the asia pacific region

17. Sep. 2008 UN/CEFACT Rapporteur for Asia

Development in the Asia Pacific RegionDevelopment in the Asia Pacific Region

Asia Rapporteur’s Report to the 14Asia Rapporteur’s Report to the 14thth Plenary PlenarySep. 16-17, 2008Sep. 16-17, 2008

17 Sep. 2008UN/CEFACT Rapporteur for Asia

1. AFACT

2. Collaboration with APEC

Contents


AFACTAFACT(Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation & e-Business)(Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation & e-Business)


2525thth AFACT Meeting AFACT Meeting

◊ 25th AFACT Annual Meeting

◊ 2007 eAsia Award

- 12 final candidate best practice projects

- 10 awards in 4 areas

Event Date & Venue

25th AFACT StC Meeting Aug. 6, Bangkok, Thailand

AFACT JWG Meeting Aug. 7, Bangkok, Thailand

25th AFACT Plenary Aug. 8, Bangkok, Thailand

eAsia Award Evaluation & Ceremony Aug. 9, Bangkok, Thailand

EDICOM 2007 Conference Aug. 10, Bangkok, Thailand


2626thth AFACT Meeting AFACT Meeting

◊ 26th AFACT StC Mid-term Meeting

- May 1-2, 2008 Jeju Island, Korea

- 19th Member: Saudi Arabia

- Roadmap is on the way for future direction

◊ 26th AFACT Annual Meeting and Related Events

Event Date & Venue

26th AFACT StC Meeting Oct. 13, COEX

AFACT JWG Meeting Oct. 14, COEX

26th AFACT Plenary Oct. 15, COEX

EDICOM 2008 Conference Oct. 16, Textile Center

WfMC Conference Oct. 17, Textile Center


Collaboration with Collaboration with APECAPEC

(Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation)(Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation)


May 26 – 28, 2008 Seoul, KoreaMay 26 – 28, 2008 Seoul, Korea

Under the auspices of Under the auspices of APEC Electronic Commerce Steering Group APEC Electronic Commerce Steering Group && UN/CEFACTUN/CEFACT

http://www.mke.go.kr/language/eng/main.jsp

http://global.kita.net/

http://www.kiec.or.kr/english/index.asp


UNECE

◊ Symposium Participants

160 stakeholders from 22 economies (14 economies from APEC)

http://www.apec.org/

http://www.un.org/

http://www.wcoomd.org/event_fact_sheet.htm


◊ Conjunctive UN/CEFACT TBG Meetings

- TBG 17: May 19 - 23

- TBG2: May 22 - 28

- TBG15: May 29 - 30

◊ Participation and Contribution from UN/CEFACT


◊ Symposium Conclusion

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An open, harmonized, international standard is critical for successful cross-border paperless trading

Regulatory requirements can cause major delay in international supply chain and need to be simplified for successful implementation of paperless trading

The major factors hindering the implementation of paperless trading in APEC are lack of necessary regulatory support, insufficient capacity building support and lack of necessary human recourses

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4 The most wanted support from such regional body as APEC as well as international body such as the United Nations are listed as capacity building, expertise and necessary funding

The identified priority paperless trading projects for APEC member economies include e-Certificate, electronic Customs Declaration and e-Invoicing


◊ Symposium Recommendations

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As illustrated in the development of ASEAN Single Window, support from the top-level policy-makers is critical in successful implementation of paperless trading. Therefore, the Symposium recommends that a high-level convention such as APEC Ministerial Meeting on e-Commerce is to be organized.

As unanimously agreed among the participants, open and harmonized international standards are critical for successful cross-border paperless trading. The Symposium recommends that a recommendation is prepared on the use of the UN/CEFACT Core component Library as the foundational data standard for cross-border paperless trading.

Taking into account of important role of private sector in paperless trading, the Symposium recommends encouraging the private sector, including industry associations, to get involved in developing paperless trading and related instruments. This may include more Public Private Partnership (PPP) with more special care for the requirements of SMEs. It was also recognized that UNeDocs could be a suitable paperless trading instruments for SMEs.


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The finding of the survey result reinforces that APEC economies need more capacity building support for paperless trading. They Symposium recommends that APEC and UN regional bodies such as UNECE, UNESCAP and UNECLAC to collaborate and develop joint capacity building program. As a first step, it was suggested that a proper communication channel is to be set up. Another proposal was the introduction of mentoring program in paperless trading capacity building project in its eBGT project.

It was pointed out during the Symposium that the outreach and presence of both APEC and UN is not enough in certain region such as Latin America. The Symposium recommends both APEC and UN to increase its outreach and promotional activities in paperless trading.

Single Window is a good candidate to be a paperless trading instruments for facilitating cross-border trade. However, for many economies, implementing a Single Window can pose many obstacles caused by regulatory requirements, business practices, technical incompetence, etc. The Symposium recommends UN/CEFACT to consider requests for developing recommendations related to the Single Window to facilitate its implementation.

Recognizing the respective strengths of APEC and UN/CEFACT in facilitating paperless trading in the region and globally, the Symposium recommends forming a joint task force. The joint task force will develop common mission and statement, convincing business model for paperless trading and necessary resolution to implement the agreed Symposium recommendations.


Thank you !Thank you !

Sangwon Lim

UN/CEFACT Rapporteur for Asia

Tel.: 82-2-528-5020

Fax: 82-2-528-5719

email: [email protected]

development in the asia pacific region

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