Dr. Mary Mbithi delivered a presentation on Trade Faciliation in Africa in the 41st Regional course on key issues on the international economic agenda. The discussion covered:

• Regional experiences and transport facilitation in Africa
• Kenya’s Trade Facilitation and paperless trade
• Some specific indicators (relevant to participating countries)

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have common economic challenges and are faced with high costs for energy, infrastructure, transportation, trade logistics and public administration. These challenges are increasingly under-girded by new concerns, such as the high incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases, demographic transitions, high levels of outward migration, and the rising cost of adapting to climate change.

The Centre for World Trade Studies (CWTS) UGM has been working on a joint-study with Indonesian Coordinating Ministry of Economy which presents a review on Indonesia-Bangladesh Bilateral Trade and Economic Affairs. Both countries have agreed to boost economic ties by negotiating a preferential trade agreement in 2016. CWTS helps the Ministry to measure the competitiveness of Indonesian commodities in Bangladesh market and vice-versa. They also conducted a research on investment opportunities that would benefit investors for both Asian states.

The European Union nowadays is a significant trade partner for the Latin America countries. The structure of trade between the EU and Latin America, on the one hand, explains the opportunities for strengthening the cooperation from the perspective of its complementary nature. On the other hand, there are some limitations on the diversification of their trade relations. Despite the fact that there is a number of disagreements that are reflected in the applied protectionist measures and initiated trade disputes, the EU and the Latin American region continue to develop trade relations.