{"id":434785,"date":"2011-06-02T13:55:02","date_gmt":"2011-06-02T13:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/"},"modified":"2011-06-02T13:55:02","modified_gmt":"2011-06-02T13:55:02","slug":"policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy Reforms Needed to Boost Regional Trade and Investment"},"content":{"rendered":"<div readability=\"83.9148823685\">\n<hr class=\"thin clear\" \/>\n<hr class=\"thin clear\" \/>\n<p>South African Institute for International Affairs (Johannesburg)<\/p>\n<p>2 June 2011<\/p>\n<hr class=\"thin clear\" \/>\n<p>press release<\/p>\n<p>Pretoria \u2014 New World Bank research shows that a combination of policy\u00a0 barriers are hampering regional trade in both goods and services among Southern African countries, and calls for a new generation of policy reforms to realize \u201cFactory Southern Africa\u201d for securing economic growth, creating jobs, reducing skills gaps and promoting keener competitiveness.<\/p>\n<p>The results show that regional trade in Southern Africa lags behind other regions, and accounts for just 10 percent of total trade.\u00a0 Comparator figures are 60 percent for Europe, 40 percent for North America, and 30 percent for Asia. Most importantly, regional trade in parts and components is among the lowest in the world, confirming the absence of regional supply chains. Greater regional integration &#8212; easing of barriers, investing in quality infrastructure, and diversifying away from primary commodities to higher, value-added manufacturing and services &#8212; can help to unleash the economic potential of the sub-region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs these countries look for innovative ways to counter the economic slowdown, not enough attention has been paid to the growth-boosting effects of regional trade,\u201d said Ruth Kagia, World Bank Country Director for South Africa.\u00a0 \u201cThese new findings provide empirical evidence that reforms to increase trade can deliver needed development dividends in the form of faster economic growth, more job creation opportunities, and more linked markets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Select findings include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Southern African countries successfully increased trade with the rest of the world, from US$50 billion in 2000 to over $153 billion in 2008, but regional trade contributed relatively little to this growth<\/li>\n<li>Southern African Development Community (SADC) exports to the world rose from 20 to over 30 percent of combined GDP over the past decade, but regional trade only accounted for 3 percent<\/li>\n<li>Regional trade in services remains underdeveloped. Professional services are a small, but growing and significant, sector that is important to industries including mining, manufacturing and services. They can aid growth through such benefits as higher productivity, lower transaction costs and better production processes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The World Bank study found that presently these services make a \u201cmeager\u201d contribution in Southern Africa. There are relatively few professionals and the region is facing a \u201cmiddle-level skills vacuum\u201d \u2013 for example regarding accounting and engineering technicians or paralegals \u2013 and a broad mismatch of skills and needs.\u00a0 Regional integration has helped in the lowering of tariff barriers (nearly 85 percent of intra-SADC trade is now duty free, a number that rises to 98 percent in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries) but other trade barriers persist: inefficient transport, poor border management and logistics, cumbersome fiscal arrangements, poorly-designed regulations and standards, and non-tariff barriers such as import bans, permits and licensing procedures.<\/p>\n<p>The head of the Economic Diplomacy Programme at the South African Institute of International Affairs, Catherine Grant-Makokera pointed out that the report focused on the practicalities of regional integration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile many regional bodies and organisations focus on the theoretical approach to regional integration, the World Bank report emphasises the practical challenges and possibilities for improving implementation of regional goals. Trade cannot be separated from other policy issues including investment, industrialization and migration \u2013 they must be considered together\u201d, Grant-Makokera said.<\/p>\n<p>Non-tariff barriers (NTB) such as import bans, quotas and levies reported by firms in SADC affect one-fifth of recorded regional trade (US$3 billion). This ignores those impacts of barriers that prohibit trade entirely as well as costs related to inefficiencies in transport, logistics and customs which affect all goods trade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIntra-regional trade offers tremendous potential and a slew of bold reforms, many of which can be undertaken nationally, are needed to secure development dividends,\u201d said Ian Gillson, World Bank Senior Trade Economist and research team leader.\u00a0 \u201cIn conducting this research, our focus was on providing policymakers with practical and implementable policy recommendations that would help unleash the potential that greater trade offers for faster, broad-based economic growth and increased jobs and livelihood opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Factors impeding competitiveness was a key theme of the research which includes evidence from traders on the barriers they were facing.\u00a0 For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Shoprite, a grocery chain, loses $ 500 per day for every grocery-laden truck that is held up at a border thereby slowing deliveries; the chain spends $6 million annually administering overly complex \u2018certificates of origin\u2019 to secure $14 million in duty savings under the SADC Trade Protocol<\/li>\n<li>Differences in Value-Added Tax (VAT) systems applied to intra-SACU trade necessitate border controls and cost up to 2 percent of the value of each transaction<\/li>\n<li>Export restrictions on Namibia\u2019s exports of small stock reduce the ability of farmers to benefit from higher prices in the South African market<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The research findings were discussed at a \u201cDevelopment Dialogue\u201d organized by the World Bank jointly with the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSharing knowledge is a central element of the World Bank\u2019s strategy for the Africa region,\u201d said Marco Scuriatti, World Bank Senior Operations Officer based in Pretoria.\u00a0 \u201cThe research results discussed today will help contribute evidence to the public debate on the role of trade in achieving sustainable development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<fieldset>\n<legend align=\"center\"><strong>More News on allAfrica.com<\/strong><\/legend>\n<\/fieldset>\n<p>AllAfrica &#8211; All the Time<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>See the original article here:<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/stories\/201106020902.html\" title=\"Policy Reforms Needed to Boost Regional Trade and Investment\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Policy Reforms Needed to Boost Regional Trade and Investment<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> South African Institute for International Affairs (Johannesburg) 2 June 2011 press release Pretoria \u2014 New World Bank research shows that a combination of policy\u00a0 barriers are hampering regional trade in both goods and services among Southern African countries, and calls for a new generation of policy reforms to realize \u201cFactory Southern Africa\u201d for securing economic growth, creating jobs, reducing skills gaps and promoting keener competitiveness. The results show that regional trade in Southern Africa lags behind other regions, and accounts for just 10 percent of total trade.\u00a0 Comparator figures are 60 percent for Europe, 40 percent for North America, and 30 percent for Asia. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-434785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Policy Reforms Needed to Boost Regional Trade and Investment - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Policy Reforms Needed to Boost Regional Trade and Investment - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"South African Institute for International Affairs (Johannesburg) 2 June 2011 press release Pretoria \u2014 New World Bank research shows that a combination of policy\u00a0 barriers are hampering regional trade in both goods and services among Southern African countries, and calls for a new generation of policy reforms to realize \u201cFactory Southern Africa\u201d for securing economic growth, creating jobs, reducing skills gaps and promoting keener competitiveness. The results show that regional trade in Southern Africa lags behind other regions, and accounts for just 10 percent of total trade.\u00a0 Comparator figures are 60 percent for Europe, 40 percent for North America, and 30 percent for Asia.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Policy Reforms Needed to Boost Regional Trade and Investment\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-02T13:55:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/\"},\"wordCount\":854,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/\",\"name\":\"Policy Reforms Needed to Boost Regional Trade and Investment - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-02T13:55:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Policy Reforms Needed to Boost Regional Trade and Investment - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Policy Reforms Needed to Boost Regional Trade and Investment - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"South African Institute for International Affairs (Johannesburg) 2 June 2011 press release Pretoria \u2014 New World Bank research shows that a combination of policy\u00a0 barriers are hampering regional trade in both goods and services among Southern African countries, and calls for a new generation of policy reforms to realize \u201cFactory Southern Africa\u201d for securing economic growth, creating jobs, reducing skills gaps and promoting keener competitiveness. The results show that regional trade in Southern Africa lags behind other regions, and accounts for just 10 percent of total trade.\u00a0 Comparator figures are 60 percent for Europe, 40 percent for North America, and 30 percent for Asia.","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Policy Reforms Needed to Boost Regional Trade and Investment","datePublished":"2011-06-02T13:55:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/"},"wordCount":854,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/","name":"Policy Reforms Needed to Boost Regional Trade and Investment - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-06-02T13:55:02+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/02\/policy-reforms-needed-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434785\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}