DUSHANBE, August 27, 2009, Asia-Plus — The World Economic Forum’s Global Enabling Trade Report 2009 released in July 2009 ranked Tajikistan 114th among 121 countries.
According to the report, 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. Canada, Norway, Finland, Austria and the Netherlands complete the top-10 list.
Among the former Soviet republics the leaders are Estonia (22nd), Lithuania (40th) and Latvia (40th). They are followed by Moldova, which ranked (52nd), Armenia (64th), Azerbaijan (70th), Ukraine (71st), Kazakhstan (93rd), Kyrgyzstan (101st) and Russia (109th).
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.
