RIS Diary April 2006 1

RIS, All India Crop BiotechnologyAssociation, and the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forest, Government ofIndia jointly organized the NationalConsultation on Trade in GM Products:Issues Concerning Cartagena Protocol on 1March 2006 in New Delhi.

The programme began with welcomeremarks by Dr. Nagesh Kumar, DirectorGeneral, RIS. Shri Desh Deepak Verma,Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environmentand Forest (MoEF) made a presentation onthe issues and challenges facing the countryon the subject. Shri R. K. Sinha, ExecutiveDirector, All India Crop BiotechnologyAssociation (AICBA), also spoke at theinaugural session.

Dr. Vibha Dhawan, Vice-Chancellor,TERI School of Advanced Studies chairedthe Panel Discussion on Key RegulatoryIssues relating to Cartagena Protocol onBiosafety. Dr. S. R. Rao, Scientific Advisor,Ministry of Science and Technology; and Dr.Partha R. Das Gupta, Advisor, Syngenta IndiaLtd. were the panelists.

National Consultation on Trade in GM Products: IssuesConcerning Cartagena Protocol

Vol.4 No. 2 April 2006

Dr. R. S. Rana, former Director,NBPGR, New Delhi chaired the session onLiability and Redress: Defining the Contours.In this session Dr. Martha Stanton, Crop Life

Asia, Bangkok; Dr. Vibha Ahuja, DeputyGeneral Manager, Biotech Consortium India

Professor Chung Duck-Koo, Hon’bleMember of Parliament, and former Ministerof Commerce, Industry and Energy, Republicof Korea delivered the Eminent Person Lectureon Asian Century: The Dynamics of NorthEast Asia, ASEAN and India, organized byRIS on 27 January 2006 in New Delhi.

Shri Ajay Maken, Hon’ble Member ofParliament chaired the event. Dr. Nagesh Kumar,Director General, RIS; and AmbassadorShashank, former Foreign Secretary and formerAmbassador to South Korea made the initialremarks. Thereafter Shri Ajay Maken, Hon’bleMember of Parliament addressed the gatheringon the importance of the theme of the lecture. Healso touched briefly on the various aspects of theevolving Indian-ASEAN economiccooperation. It was followed by the EminentPerson Lecture by Hon’ble Professor ChungDuck-Koo. After the lecture a question-answer session also took place in which the

Eminent Person Lecture on Asian Century: The Dynamicsof North East Asia, ASEAN and India

Continued on page 5

participants raised a number of issuesconcerned with India-ASEAN economic

relations and the importance of India-Koreaeconomic cooperation.

(From left): Ambassador Shashank; Hon’ble Shri Ajay Maken; Hon’ble Professor Chung Duck-Koo; andDr. Nagesh Kumar.

(From left): Dr. Nagesh Kumar; Dr. Sachin Chaturvedi; Shri Desh Deepak Verma; and Shri R. K.Sinha at the inaugural session of the National Consultation on Trade in GM Products: IssuesConcerning Cartagena Protocol.

2 RIS Diary April 2006

Economic Integration in SAARC:Challenges for SAFTA and BeyondThe signing of the Framework Agreement onSouth Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) at theIslamabad Summit of SAARC was a landmarkin evolution of SAARC as a regional grouping.At long last the SAARC region seems to beheading towards a regional trade arrangement(RTA) that is the first step in the evolution ofSAARC as a regional trade bloc and an economicunion. Limited experiences with tradeliberalization, that South Asia has had so far inthe framework of SAPTA or bilateral FTAs inthe region, provide useful pointers for the gainsfrom regionalism in terms of efficiency-seekingindustrial restructuring. However, a look at thetext on SAFTA clearly suggests that it is a caseof “too little, too late.” Given the emergence ofcompeting regional trading arrangements suchas BIMSTEC FTAs and various bilateral FTAsas also the ongoing trade liberalization at themultilateral level, a slow track move by SAFTAfor attaining a free trade area would make thearrangement largely irrelevant. This calls forurgent effort in considerably enhancing the paceof regional trade liberalization as well expandingits scope. Against that background, this studymakes an attempt to come up with a policy agendafor increasing the effectiveness of SAFTA andother measures for fully exploiting the potentialof regional economic integration in South Asia.This study is conducted by RIS in collaborationwith the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka,Colombo within the framework of South AsiaCentre for Policy Studies (SACEPS),Kathmandu and supported by resourcesobtained by SACEPS from the ADB. Contactfor further details: dgoffice@ris.org.in

Economic Cooperation between Eastand South AsiaAgainst the background of intensifying effortsat regional economic cooperation andintegration between East and South Asianeconomies in recent years the AsianDevelopment Bank is conducting a major policyresearch study on the subject. The study seeks toidentify gains from closer economic cooperationbetween East and South Asian economies andinform public and private sector stakeholders ofthe policy steps required for effective economiccooperation and integration between the two sub-regions. The ADB has assigned RIS to preparea country study of India which will assess theevolution of India's pattern of economiccooperation and integration with East and SouthAsian countries; assess the degree of economiccooperation and integration in each of the threeareas of merchandise trade and investment,services trade, and infrastructure and tradefacilitation; prioritize the sub-sectors withineach area, where appropriate, in terms ofbenefits from further cooperation and

Current Research/Advisory Activitiesintegration; identify specific constraints tocooperation in the prioritized sectors withineach of the three areas, including reference tocurrent and proposed agreements; evaluate theconsistency of India's current and proposedagreements among themselves and theircompatibility with the multilateral system; listand discuss policy recommendations at thecountry level to enhance effective cooperationand integration and their sequence; and providebackground information as required to preparethe CGE model based study and the sectoralstudies under the project. Contact for furtherdetails: dgoffice@ris.org.in

Trade Facilitation, CustomsValuation and Regional Integrationin South AsiaRIS has further intensified the collaborativework on WTO specific issues with ARTNet /UNESCAP, Bangkok. In the second phase ofthe ongoing work on trade facilitation, customsvaluation and regional integration are identifiedas focus areas for deepening the research work.Benefits associated with trade facilitation in aregional context may also be investigated, alongwith issues related to the implementation of theWTO customs valuation agreement andliberalization in trade logistics services.

Possible implications for the WTOnegotiations on trade facilitation would beassessed, as well as recommendations on how toaddress trade facilitation issues throughpreferential trade agreements would be attempted.The objective of the study is to review regionaland bilateral trade agreements and related tradefacilitation initiatives in South Asian countriesand their experience in customs valuation

reform, to analyze the impact of these initiativesand reforms on trade, selected nationalGovernments, and the private sector, and toderive policy implications for the WTOnegotiations on trade facilitation, as well asdetailed recommendations on how SAFTA couldenhance trade facilitation at the regional level.Contact for further details: sachin@ris.org.in

Policy Notes prepared for theGovernment� Note on Utilizing Lines of Credit for

Strengthening Indian CompetitivenessAbroad and Access to Key Raw Materialswas prepared and sent to the Ministry ofExternal Affairs on 24 February 2006.

� Note on the Case for an India-JapanComprehensive Economic PartnershipAgreement was prepared for and sent tothe Ministry of External Affairs on 25February 2006.

� Japan-India Joint Study Group: Draftannotated outline of the merged Chapters 6and 7: Other areas of economic cooperation,cooperation at WTO, and regional economiccooperation were provided.

� A Brief Note on Trade Complementaritybetween India and the EU-15 wassubmitted to the Embassy of India,Brussels on 31 January 2006.

� Note on Chapter 8 (Liberalised andUpgraded Framework for India-JapanEconomic Partnership) of India-JapanJoint Study Group was submitted.

� The note on combined Chapters 6 and 7(Other Areas of Economic Cooperation)of India-Japan JSG was submitted.

� Inputs were provided for ASEAN-IndiaFTA negotiations on Rules of Origin.

MoU between ISEAS and RISRIS has collaborated with the Institute ofSoutheast Asian Studies (ISEAS),Singapore with respect to work on AsianEconomic Integration among otherissues. ISEAS collaborated with RIS inorganizing the Fourth High-Levelconference on Asian EconomicCommunity in New Delhi in November2005. They have also issued a numberof joint publications. To formalize theirgrowing collaborative links, ISEAS andRIS, signed an MoU. The MoU aims atfostering mutual academic cooperation by undertaking collaborative research project;organizing joint conferences/seminars for informed debate; exchange of research facultymembers; knowledge dissemination through joint publications and website links; seekingoutside funding sources for joint research activities; and exchanging publications brought outby the two institutions. The two institutes shall undertake, by mutual agreement, other forms ofresearch cooperation that they consider as conducive to promoting mutual exchanges andcooperation. The MoU was signed by Ambassador K. Kesavapany, Director, ISEAS, Singaporeon behalf of ISEAS and Dr. Nagesh Kumar, DG, RIS on behalf of RIS on 29 March 2006during former's visit to RIS.

Ambassador K. Kesavapany and Dr. Nagesh Kumarsigning the MOU.

RIS Diary April 2006 3

RIS organized a seminar on Competitivenessof India, China and ASEAN and their role inthe emerging Asian Economic Community,on 25 January 2006. Ambassador K.Kesavapany, Director, Institute of SoutheastAsian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore; and Dr.Tan Khee Giap, Visiting Senior ResearchFellow, ISEAS and Head, ASEANEconomies Monitoring Unit, NanyangTechnological University, Singapore, presentedan empirical study examining a comprehensiveassessment of competitiveness indicators for35 Indian States and Union Territories, 31Chinese Provinces, and 10 ASEAN economiesto draw some policy lessons. Ambassador S.T.Devare, Vice-Chairman, RIS chaired. Theanalytical and empirical assessment ofrelative competitiveness of major Asianeconomies provided a backdrop for richdiscussions on the nature and direction of

Seminar on Competitiveness of India, China and ASEANand their role in the emerging Asian Economic Community

policy reforms for strengthening ourcompetitiveness, growth and regionalcooperation. A large number of participants

from academia, government departments andbusiness and industry circles took active partin the discussion.

(From left:) Dr. Tan Khee Giap; Ambassador K. Kesavapany; Ambassador S.T. Devare; andDr. Nagesh Kumar.

RIS-ITEC Fellows with Dr. Nagesh Kumar, Director-General, RIS and other members of the RIS faculty.

Programme on International Economic Issues andDevelopment Policy, 20 February-17 March 2006RIS conducted a Programme on InternationalEconomic Issues and Development Policy(IEIDP) in conjunction with the ITECProgramme, sponsored by the Ministry ofExternal Affairs. RIS has been receiving ITECFellows since 2000. However, the programmestructure was revised from 2005/06 in the lightof the feed back obtained from previous batches.In the 2005/06 the programme schedule was mademore compact with a larger participation. Theprogramme participants included: Mr. OybekMakhmudov of Uzbekistan; Ms. IrinaArkadyeva, Russia; Mr. J.M.O. Ahanda ofCameroon; Mr. I.D. Antonius, Suriname; Ms.Y.G. Sardinas, Cuba and Mr. M.V.Razafindrakota, Madagascar. This researchand capacity building programme was heldduring 20 February to 17 March 2006 in RIS.

The course contents includedorganization of special lecture-cum-interactive

sessions for the benefit of the Visiting Fellowsby the invited experts and RIS faculty members.The important themes of these special sessionsincluded: World Trading System andDevelopment; Reform of the InternationalMonetary System; WTO Negotiations: Adeveloped country view; Some Perspectiveson Washington Consensus; East Asia Summit:Implications for India; Status of NAMANegotiations; Trade in Services under GATS;Negotiating Issues in Agriculture in DohaRound; Trade Facilitation Issues in WTO;Non-Tariff Barriers Negotiations in WTO;Panel Discussion on ‘Economic Survey ofIndia’; Rise of IT and Software Sector in India;Emerging Global Trends in Regionalism;Negotiating Issues in Regional Cooperation;Economic Importance of Re-emerging Asia;Foreign Direct Investment and Development:Some Analytical Issues; Trade and Domestic

Policy Implications for Agriculture Sector inDeveloping Countries; Regional Cooperationin Transport Sector: Issues and Experiences;Economic Aspects in Regional Integrationamong Developing Countries; and EnergySecurity Issues and Regional Cooperation.

During the training programme RIS-ITEC Visiting Fellows also participated in anumber of events organized by FICCI and PHDChamber of Commerce and Industry and alsovisited Maruti-Suzuki Automobile Plant inGurgaon. Special meeting sessions were alsoheld with the representatives of NASSCOM,EXIM Bank of India, FICCI, SIAM, etc. apartfrom holding research interactions and libraryconsultation sessions in RIS. At the conclusionof the training programme the Visiting Fellowsmade their respective presentations on the selectthemes. Dr. Ram Upendra Das, Fellow, RIScoordinated the programme.

4 RIS Diary April 2006

Faculty NewsDr. Nagesh Kumar, Director-General� Delivered a lecture on Regional EconomicIntegration in Asia: Approaches, Relevanceand Prospects for a Broader Asian Communityat the International Conference on InternationalTrade, organized by the Centre for AdvancedStudies in Economics, Jadavpur University,Kolkata on 2 January 2006.� Participated in the Meeting of Economistsfor Pre-Budget Consultations with the FinanceMinister, held in the Ministry of Finance on13 January 2006 in New Delhi.� Made a presentation on Trade, RTAs,Asian Integration at the Seventh AnnualNBER-NCAER Neemrana Dialogue, held atNeemrana, Rajasthan on 16 January 2006.� Participated in the First SteeringCommittee Meeting of 34th World MarketingCongress, at the Institute of Marketing andManagement, New Delhi on 18 January 2006.� Made a presentation on EconomicIntegration in SAARC at the 33rd WorldMarketing Congress on the South AsianMarket: Its Challenges & Opportunities,organized by the Institute of Marketing &Management, New Delhi, on 20 January 2006.� Participated in the Meeting the WorkingGroup on Trade of IBSA held in theDepartment of Commerce, New Delhi on 27January 2006.� Delivered a Special Address andparticipated in the discussion at the Seminaron BIMSTEC-Business Opportunities,organized by ASSOCHAM in New Delhi on31 January 2006.� Delivered a lecture on India’s Look EastPolicy at the training programme for the 20member IFS Office Trainees of 2005 Batch,organized by the Foreign Service Institute(FSI), Ministry of External Affairs on 31January 2006 in New Delhi.� Participated in the Meetings of the India-Japan JSG organized by the Ministry ofExternal Affairs in New Delhi on 1-3February 2006.� Delivered a Dinner Talk at the RegionalDialogue on New Asian Dynamism andSAARC 2015: Prospects and Challenges,organized by Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung, in NewDelhi on 6 February 2006 in New Delhi.� Delivered the inaugural address at theInternational Seminar on Emerging India in21st Century Asia Pacific, organized by theCentre for Southeast Asia and Pacific Studies,Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati,Andhra Pradesh on 7-8 February 2006.� Made a presentation on East AsianIntegration and Its Impact on the IndianEconomy at the State of the Economy Seminar,organized by NCAER in New Delhi on 9February 2006.

� Delivered a lecture on Regional EconomicCooperation in Asia at the 40th ProfessionalCourse for Foreign Diplomats conducted bythe FSI in New Delhi on 14 February 2006.� Chaired the lecture on East Asia and AsiaPacific: Competing or ComplementaryRegionalism delivered by Dr Paul Evans, Vice-Chair of Board of Directors and Co-CEO, AsiaPacific Foundation of Canada at the IndiaInternational Centre, New Delhi on 16February 2006.� Chaired the session on Strategic Issues inServices at the IV International Conference onGlobalization & Sectoral Development,organized by the Academy of InternationalBusiness-India in association with Institute forIntegrated Learning in Management in NewDelhi on 17-19 February 2006.� Panelist in the Seminar on East AsiaSummit: Implications for India, organizedjointly by the Indian Council of World Affairsand the Council for Security Cooperation inthe Asia Pacific (CSCAP) in New Delhi on22 February 2006.� Made a presentation on Multilateral TradeNegotiations and Economic Diplomacy at theSeminar on Economic Diplomacy, organizedby the Association of Indian Diplomats andthe India International Centre in New Delhi on25 February 2006.� Made a presentation on South Asia in theContext of Economic Integration in Asia inthe Seminar on A Creative Conceptualizationof Cooperation in Our Region, organized bythe Indian Council for South AsianCooperation and the India International Centrein New Delhi on 10 March 2006.� Made a presentation on Gains fromSAFTA for Private Sector at the Seminar onSAFTA: Bus iness Oppor tun i t i es andChallenges, organized by FICCI in New Delhion 13 March 2006.� Participated in the India-Japan JSG-Internal meeting of the Indian Component,organized by the Ministry of Finance in NewDelhi on March 13, 2006.� As part of the Indian delegation,participated and made presentation on regionalarchitecture at the High Level Seminar on AsianRegional Cooperation organized at the LeeKuan Yew School of Public Policy inSingapore on 15-16 March 2006.� Participated in the Brainstorming onFTAs: Issues and Challenges in DesigningEffective Trade Agreements in Asia, organizedby the Asian Development Bank in Manila on20 March 2006.� Made a presentation at the Workshop forthe Asian Cooperative Strategy in Trade andIndustry: Opportunities and Obstacles,organized by the Institute of World Economics

and Politics of Chinese Academy of SocialScience in Beijing on 23-24 March 2006.� Launched and presented to the media theESCAP’s Annual Publication Economic andSocial Survey of Asia and the Pacific – 2006at the United Nations Information Centre, NewDelhi on 30 March 2006.� Chaired the session on Issues of DeeperEconomic Integration in Asia at the Workshopon IDRC Project: Preferential TradingArrangements in Asia: Towards an AsianEconomic Community, organized by ICRIERNew Delhi on 30 March 2006.

Dr. Rajesh Mehta, Senior Fellow� Delivered a lecture on Non-AgriculturalMarket Access (NAMA) at Advance Courseon WTO for Officers of the IndianAdministrative Service, organized by IIFT on30 January 2006 in New Delhi.� Made a presentation on Impact of WTOon Indian SSI at the Programme for PromotingExport Business Development Services(BDS), organized by the IIFT in New Delhion 24 February 2006.� Made a presentation on Role of WTO inDevelopment of Global Trade in ProcessedFoods: SPS and TBT Issues at the NationalSeminar on Quality Assurance for IndianProcessed Foods and Overcoming TradeBarriers, organized by All India FoodProcessors Association (AIFPA) in New Delhion 10-11 March 2006.� Participated in the Expert meetingorganized by Institute for Human Development(IHD) on 3 March 2006 to discuss the studyon Regional Trade and Food Security in Asiaprepared by the IHD and ActionAid.� Made a presentation on NAMANegotiations: Issues for India at the NationalConsultation on WTO and India: Strategisingbeyond Hong Kong, organized by FICCI andCENTAD in New Delhi on 20 March 2006.

Dr. S.K. Mohanty, Fellow� Paper on WTO Agreement on Agriculture,Liberalisation in Select Industrialised Countries,and Implications for Developing Countries: ACGE Modelling Analysis (co-author) waspresented in the International Conference onInternational Trade organized by Centre forAdvanced Studies in Economics, JadavpurUniversity, Kolkata on 2-3 January 2006.� Made a presentation at the Conference onIBSA Free Trade Agreement: Opportunitiesand Challenges, organized by ASSOCHAMin New Delhi on 10 March 2006.� Made a presentation in the Workshop onManaging Global Governance, organized bythe German Development Institute and InWEntin Bonn, Germany on 29-31 March 2006.

Continued on page 5

RIS Diary April 2006 5

Dr. Sachin Chaturvedi, Fellow� Presented a paper on Integration inSouth Asia and Issues in Asian EconomicCommunity at the Seventh Annual GlobalDevelopment Network Conference on Asianand Other Drivers of Global Change, heldon 9-21 January 2006 in St. Petersburg,Russia.� Presented a paper on Biotechnology andthe Emerging TRIPs-Plus Regime: Concernsof Developing Countries at the CAPPEWorkshop on Medicine and Poverty, organizedby the University of Melbourne, Australia on31 January-1 February 2006.� Made a presentation on Biosafety andTrade Related Issues at the TERI School ofAdvanced Studies Short-term OrientationCourse on Biosafety and Biotech Regulations,held on 9 February 2006, in New Delhi.� Made a presentation on SAFTA and TradeFacilitation Measures at the Seminar onChallenges and Opportunities: RegionalEconomic Cooperation in South Asia,organized by CUTS-CITEE, FES, IMC, on24 March 2006, in Mumbai.� Made a presentation on Trade Facilitationand Regional Integration in South Asia at theUNDP/ESCAP ARTNeT Trade FacilitationResearch Team Meeting, held on 15 March2006 in Bangkok.� Made presentations on Intellectual

Continued from page 4 (Faculty News) Property and Agro Biotechnology: EmergingGlobal Regime; and Biotechnology and TradeRelated Issues at the TERI School of AdvancedStudies Training Workshop on Law andBiotechnology, on 10 March 2006, in NewDelhi.

Dr. Ram Upendra Das, Fellow� Participated in the Discussion Meeting onPreferential Rules of Origin: Building aProduct-specific Approach at World CustomsOrganization, held on 25-29 January 2006,Brussels, Belgium.� Participated in the Consultations onProduct-specific Rules of Origin submitted byBIMSTEC Members, organized by Ministryof Commerce and Industry, on 2 March 2006,New Delhi.� Discussant in International Conference onDevelopment in Open Economies: Labour inIndustry, organized by the Academy of ThirdWorld Studies and Jamia Millia Islamia, 6March 2006, New Delhi.� Made a presentation on SAFTANegotiations: Implications for the Business atthe Symposium on Trade Liberalization inSAARC, organized by SCCI, BCCI andAusAID during 9-12 March 2006 in Thimphu,Bhutan.� Delivered a lecture on WTO RelatedIssues for Foreign Journalists, organized bythe Indian Institute of Mass Communication(IIMC), 21 March 2006, New Delhi.

Shri Prabir De, Associate Fellow� Participated in the Round Table MeetingChanging Face of Japan: India’s Role,organized by the Delhi Policy Group, in NewDelhi on 4 January 2006.� Visiting Research Fellow at the Centrefor Northeast Asia Economic Cooperation(CNAEC), Korea Institute for InternationalEconomic Policy (KIEP), Seoul duringJanuary 20- February 24, 2006. Presentedtwo papers on Regional Trade in NortheastIndia: Why Do Trade Costs Matter?; and LookEast Policy and India’s Economic Engagementwith Northeast Asia: Opportunities andChallenges.� Participated in the InternationalConference on India and East Asia: Paradigmsfor New Global Cooperation, organized byICWA, New Delhi in collaboration with theDepartment of East Asian Studies, Universityof Delhi, and the Academy of Third WorldStudies, Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi,during 7-9 March 2006.� Discussant at the Workshop PreferentialTrading Agreements in Asia: Towards anAsian Economic Community, organized byICRIER, in New Delhi on 30 March 2006.� Presented a paper on Facilitating OverlandTrade in BCIM: Issues and Ways Forward, atthe 6th BCIM Forum, organized by the Instituteof Chinese Studies, Delhi University incollaboration with the Centre for Policy Research,during 30-31 March 2006 in New Delhi.

Limited; and Prof. Bharat H. Desai, JNU,made the presentations.

The session on Issues in Handling andTransboundary Movement was also chairedby Dr. R. S. Rana. The speakers in the sessionwere: Dr. Ravi Khetarpal, Head, PlantQuarantine, NBPGR; Dr. Biswajit Dhar, IIFT(WTO Centre); and Dr. Vibha Dhawan, Vice-Chancellor, TERI School of AdvancedStudies.

Dr J L Karihaloo, Project Coordinator,Asia-Pacific Consortium on AgriculturalBiotechnology (APCoAB), chaired thesession on Compliance Mechanism: Issuesand Options. Dr. T. V. Ramaniah, Director,Department of Biotechnology, and Dr.Sachin Chaturvedi, Fellow, RIS, madepresentations.

The concluding session on The WayForward was chaired by Dr J L Karihaloo.In this session the main speakers were: Dr.S. R. Rao; Dr. Manoranjan Hota, AdditionalDirector, Ministry of Environment andForest (MoEF); and Dr. Damien Plan,Director, Public, Government andCommunication Asia Pacific, Bayer CropScience, Singapore.

Continued from page 1 (Trade in GM Products) Executive Secretary, UN-ESCAP visits RIS

H.E. Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary, UN-ESCAP during his visit to New Delhivisited RIS along with his colleagues on 11 February 2006 for an briefing on the RISwork programme and strengthen ESCAP-RIS collaboration. This discussion began witha presentation on the work programme of RIS made by Director-General, RIS. RIS isrepresented on the Institutional Advisory Board of the ESCAP's Asia Trade ResearchNetwork on Trade (ARTNeT) and actively contributes to it. H.E. Mr. Kim showed keeninterest in the work programme of RIS especially on Asian economic integration. TheIndian Ministry of Commerce and Industry has also proposed to support a study onregional institutional financing mechanism on infrastructure in Asia to be conducted byRIS and ICRIER to support ESCAP's work during this visit.

H.E. Mr. Kim Hak-Su and members of his delegation interacting with RIS faculty.

6 RIS Diary April 2006

Latest PublicationsBookTowards an Employment–Oriented Export Strategy: SomeExplorations, published by RIS, 2006.India currently faces a major challenge of employmentgeneration for millions of its unskilled and semi-skilledunemployed workers. The employment in the organizedsector has shrunk in the recent years despite accelerationin GDP growth. India needs a manufacturing revolutionto complement the booming services sector to meet thechallenge of employment creation. Some countries likeChina, Malaysia, Thailand, among others have built export-oriented manufacturing industries and have created millionsof job opportunities, while generating output and foreignexchange.

Export-oriented production has a huge potential for generating jobs. However,very little information has been available on the role that exports play in employmentgeneration and policies that may help in that respect. This Report, prepared byRIS at the request of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, explores into therole that exports can play in employment generation. It discusses the analyticalissues in linking exports and employment generation and summarizes theinternational experiences on the subject. It makes the first exploratory attempt atestimating the role that export-oriented industry is playing in job creation and itspotential. It outlines an employment-oriented export strategy that will not onlystrengthen India’s place in international division of labour but can also improvethe condition of its unemployed youth and generate new income and wealth. Thegovernment has taken cognizance of its findings and recommendations in therecent policy-making.

RIS Policy Briefs#22 Doha Round and Developing Countries: Will

the Doha deal do more harm than good?WTO members agreed that the current round of tradetalks should focus on development. The deal thatseems to be emerging, however, is unlikely to deliver.The benefits are small for developing countries andthe costs are high. It will be up to developing countrygovernments to decide whether the Doha deal does more harm than good totheir prospects for economic advancement.

Discussion Papers#106 Japan and an Asian Economic Community by Masanori

KondoAbstract: Until recently, most Japanese considered the gaining momentumof Asian economic integration in the frame of ASEAN+3. With Indiamaintaining a high economic growth rate and its population being predictedto overtake China as the most populous country in Asia is leading manyto rethink the importance of India to Asian economic integration. In orderto find a political and economic counterbalance to China, the Japanesegovernment has also put effort in vitalizing the Japan-India relationship.India following its ‘Look East’ policy has been successful in improving itseconomic relations with Korea, China and Japan. However, with someexceptions, Japanese businesses are behind other countries (especially US,UK, and South Korea) towards investing in India. While there are indeedmany unique difficulties involved in entering the Indian market, the massiveconsumer potential of the population combined with a skilled and numerouslabour pool allows many South Korean and American firms to attain greatsuccess there. Japanese and Indian policymakers have great designs for therelationship between the two countries, but it is only when Japanese firmsstep up and make the needed large scale commitment in India that Indo-Japanese trade will start to grow.

#107 Monetary and Financial Cooperation in Asia: EmergingTrends and Prospects by Ramkishen S. RajanAbstract: Ever since the currency crisis of 1997-98 there has been a greatdeal of interest in enhancing regional economic cooperation in Asia. It isimportant to keep in mind that economic regionalism is multidimensionalnature. The focus of this paper is on policy initiatives underway in Asia toenhance monetary and financial regionalism and the analytical bases forthese initiatives, rather than on examining the de facto level of financialand monetary links that already exists (which may or may not have beenfacilitated via regional policy mechanisms). There are many gradations ofmonetary and financial regional cooperation, ranging from the weak forminvolving regional policy dialogue and surveillance, on the one hand, to

exchange rate and monetary coordination, on the other. To maintainfocus, this paper concentrates more narrowly on “medium forms” ofmonetary and financial regionalism, broadly defined as the developmentof regional liquidity arrangements and regional financial markets.

#108 Towards Comprehensive Economic Co-operation betweenIndia and Central Asian Republics by Dr. RamgopalAgarwalaAbstract: Despite some recovery in recent years, Central Asian Republics(CARs) remain in difficult economic situation and they present a seriouschallenge to Asia. It is in the mutual interest of both CARs and rest ofAsia (including India) to explore the avenues for more intensive regionaleconomic co-operation. This paper argues how India can be more activeby: (a) giving intellectual confidence to CARs in developing andimplementing their own Eurasian model of development which follows amiddle path on both democracy and markets; (b) providing financial andtechnical resources to revive their agriculture, industry and services; and(c) improving connectivity and liberalizing trade and investment regimesfor greater exchange of goods, services and capital.

Journals� South Asia Economic Journal, Vol. 7 No. 1, January-June

2006Contents: Impact of Protection on Domestic Processing of PrimaryCommodities for Export Markets: An Example from the Sri Lankan TeaIndustry by Gaminda Ganewatta, Robert Waschik, Sisira Jayasuriya andGeoff Edwards; Trade Policy Reforms and Openness of Indian Agriculture:Analysis at the Commodity Level by Seema Bathla; Money, Income andPrices in Pakistan: a Bivariate and Tri-variate Causality by Kalbe Abbasand Fazal Husain; Market Efficiency for the Pakistan Stock Market: Evidencefrom the Karachi Stock Exchange by Madhumita Chakraborty; AnalysingIndia’s Trade Dynamics vis-á-vis SAARC Members Using the GravityModel by Biswajit Nag and Anisha Nandi; On the Incentives of Violence:Greed and Pride in Sri Lanka’s Civil War by Benedikt Korf and StefanieEngel; Review Article and Book Reviews.

� New Asia Monitor, Vol. 3 No. 1, January 2006.� RIS Diary, Vol. 4 No. 1, January 2006.

Outside Publications of RIS Faculty MembersResearch PapersChaturvedi, Sachin. 2006. “An Evaluation of the Need and Cost of

Selected Trade Facilitation Measure in India: Implications forthe WTO Negotiations” ARTNeT Working Paper No. 4. Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT),United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia andthe Pacific (UN ESCAP), Bangkok.

De, Prabir. 2005. "Cooperation in the regional transportationinfrastructure sector in South Asia." Routledge: ContemporarySouth Asia, 14 (3). September.

De, Prabir. 2006. "Deepening IBSA Trilateral Cooperation: The Roleof Communication Services”. India Quarterly, Vol. LXI, No.4, March 2006.

Kumar, Nagesh. 2006. “Towards an Asian Economic Community:An Indian Perspective”. Asian Voices Seminar Series. SasakawaPeace Foundation USA.

Mehta, Rajesh. 2006. “Implication of WTO on India’s Trade Policy.”South Asian Journal. February.

Mehta, Rajesh (co-author). 2006. “Is Indian Leather & FootwearIndustry Ready for Duty Free Integration with the World”.Indian Leather, Vol.39, No.12, February, pp. 59-71.

Mehta, Rajesh. 2006. “SPS and TBT Issues” in Quality Assurancefor Indian Processed Foods and Overcoming Trade BarriersSouvenir. All India Food Processors Association (AIFPA),March, ITPO, New Delhi.

Mehta, Rajesh (co-author). 2006. (Reprint) “Non-Agriculture MarketAccess Negotiations: Post-Cancun Issues and Implications for

Continued on page 7

RIS Diary April 2006 7

RIS in Media

Industrial Tariffs”. ICFAI’s Professional Reference Book: Indiaand the WTO: The Development Agenda. (Forthcoming).

Mehta, Rajesh. 2006. “Indian Poultry Industry in Global Context”.World Agro Trade Scanner (WATS), Vol. 1 No.1, 15-31 March.pp. 7-10.

Mohanty, S.K. and Sachin Chaturvedi. 2006. "Asian Drivers:Opportunities and Threats". IDS Bulletin. Vol. 37, No. 1, January.

Popular ColumnsAgarwala, Ramgopal. 2006. “Asia can ease the risks of global

imbalances”. The Financial Express. February 9.Chaturvedi, Sachin. 2006. “Deliver on Doha”. The Financial Express.

March 14.Das, Ram Upendra. 2006. “Apprehensions need to be set aside for

steady progress”. The Financial Express. January 11.Kumar, Nagesh. 2006. “Birth of a forum for dialogue on Asia”. The

Financial Express. January 3.Kumar, Nagesh. 2006. “What the Budget should do for brand India”.

The Financial Express. January 31.Kumar, Nagesh. 2006. “Lacking ambition on long-term growth”. The

Financial Express. March 3.Mehta, Rajesh. 2006. “Imposition of CVD to offset Customs Reduction”.

The Financial Express. 8 March.

Continued from page 6 (Latest Publications) Consultations with Industry on Rulesof Origin under the India-ASEAN FTA

Currently theGovernment of Indiais in the process ofevolving Product-specific Rules ofOrigin (PSRs) underthe India-ASEANFTA. In this context,RIS has beenentrusted to conduct acomprehensive studyexploring different options available within the ambit of Rules of Originthat can contribute to the progress in negotiations between India andASEAN, while being sensitive to the concerns of Indian industry.

With a view to concretize understanding on PSRs and to providetimely inputs to the Government of India on this important issue RISorganized a series of Meetings during 6-10 February 2006. TheMeeting was attended by senior officials of Department of Commerce.The representatives from industry and business circles also tookpart in the deliberations. Subsequently a Summing-up Session wasalso organized with the representatives of the stakeholders at RIS on10 February 2006.

Industry representatives at the consultation meet-ing held in RIS.

8 RIS Diary April 2006

Managing Editor: Tish Kumar Malhotra

Important Visitors/Delegations Received

RIS

� A delegation including Mr AtsuyukiOike, Director, Economic PartnershipDivision, Economic Affairs Bureau; MrTakashi Koyama, Deputy Director,Economic Partnership Division, EconomicAffairs Bureau; Ministry of ForeignAffairs; and Mr Naoyasu Yoshimura,Deputy Director, Economic PartnershipDivision, Trade Policy Bureau, Ministryof Economy, Trade and Industry, Tokyo,in connection with the India-Japan JointStudy Group, visited RIS on 3 February2006.

� Dr Ashok V. Desai, formerly ChiefConsultant, Ministry of Finance, Governmentof India on 4 January 2006.

� Dr B. Bhattacharyya, DistinguishedProfessor and Director, Graduate School ofManagement, Institute for Integrated Learningin Management, New Delhi on 5 January 2006.

� Prof Masanori Kondo, Associate Professorof Economics, Division of InternationalStudies, International Christian University,Tokyo, Japan on 5 January 2006.

� Dr. Keith Atkinson, Managing Director,Imani Development Austral Pvt. Ltd., PerthWA, Australia on 6 January 2006.

� Dr. Thomas Fues, German DevelopmentInstitute, Dr. Günther Taube and Dr. ValeskaGruenhage, Internationale Weiterbildung undEntwicklung gGmbH (Inwent), Germany on16 January 2006.

� Dr Praduman Rana, Senior Advisor, ADBon 17 January 2006.

� Shri R S Ratna, Director (RMTR),Department of Commerce on 19 January 2006.

� Ambassador K K Bhargava on 19 January2006.

� Mr Bishnu N. Mohapatra, ProgrammeOfficer, Local-Global Governance, The FordFoundation, New Delhi on 19 January 2006.

� Mr. Anant Swarup, Deputy Secretary,Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 19January 2006.

� Ambassador R.M. Abhyankar on 20January 2006.

� Mr. Akash Khurana, Senior Consultantand Ms. Divya Goyal, CB Richard Ellis SouthAsia Pvt. Ltd. Strategic Consulting Group on20 January 2006.

� Mr M K Venu, Economic Times and MrSiddharth Varadarajan, The Hindu on 28January 2006.

� Dr Raja Mitra, Consultant, The WorldBank, Washington DC on 31 January 2006.

RIS Diary appears in January, April, July and October. It is available from RIS or can be downloadedfrom RIS website.

Core IV-B, Fourth Floor,India Habitat CentreLodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003India.Ph. 91-11-24682177-80Fax: 91-11-24682173-74Email: dgoffice@ris.org.inWebsites: http://www.ris.org.inhttp://www.newasiaforum.org

Research and Information Systemfor Developing Countries

� Dr Dong Zhang, Senior Analyst, Tradeand Economic Analysis, Australian Agencyfor International Development, Canberra,Australia on 2 February 2006.

� Dr. Christopher L. Delgado, Director, JointILRI-IFPRI Programme on Livestock MarketOpportunities ILRI’s Theme 3, Nairobi ILRI,Nairobi, Kenya on 3 February 2006.

� Dr Clare Narrod, Research Fellow,Markets, Trade and Institutions, IFPRI,Washington, USA on 3 February 2006.

� Dr Sailendra Narain, Chairman, Centre forSME Growth & Development Finance,Mumbai on 6 February 2006.

� Mr P K Dash, Jt Secretary, Ministry ofCommerce and Industry on February 6, 2006.

� Dr Laurence Henry, Visiting Fellow,International Law, Centre de SciencesHumaines, New Delhi on 6 February 2006and on 14 February 2006.

� Dr. Partha Das Gupta, Consultant, BiotechRegulatory Policy & Business Development– Seeds, Syngenta India Limited, Kolkata on7 February 2006.

� Dr. Katherine Kahn, AgriculturalBiotechnology Advisor, USDA and Dr. JanetCarpenter, Biotechnology Advisor, U.S.Agency for International Development(USAID), on 10 February 2006.

� Dr Yan Xuetong, Director and Dr SunXuefeng, Institute of International Studies,Beijing, China on 13 February 2006.

� A delegation including Mr SupraptoMartosetomo, Director/Secretary of thePolicy Planning and Development Agency,Department of Foreign Affairs; Mr MoenirAri Soenanda, Director, Centre for PolicyAnalysis and Development of the AsiaPacific and African Region; and MrMochamad A. Ridwan, Department LuarNegeri Ri, Indoensia along with Mr FientjeM. Suebu, Embassy of the Republic ofIndonesia, New Delhi visited RIS on 29March 2006 for interaction with DG.

� Mr. Subash Bose Pillai, MinisterCounsellor (Economic Affairs), High

Commission of Malaysia on 15 February 2006.

� Mr Mahendra Ved, SpecialCorrespondent, The Times of India, on 15February 2006.

� Dr Paul Evans, Vice-Chair of Board ofDirectors and Co-CEO, Asia PacificFoundation of Canada on 16 February 2006.

� Prof Deena Khatkhate on 20 February2006.

� Dr Jayanta Roy, Principal Advisor, CII,New Delhi on 21 February 2006.

� Dr Rajiv Kumar, Director and ChiefExecutive, ICRIER on 22 February 2006.

� A delegation from the Institute ofPublic Policy Research, UK visited RISon 6 March 2006. The members of thedelegation were: Dr Howard Reed,Research Director; Dr Kevin Bowman,Corporate Relations Manager; and DrRachel O’Brien, Editor, Public PolicyResearch.

� Dr K.C. Reddy, Chairman, A.P. StateCouncil of Higher Education, Hyderabad on24 February 2006.

� Dr Jagjit Singh, Executive President,IMM, New Delhi on 7 March 2006.

� Dr. Sanjoy Sharma, Project Director,IPSOS, Seoul, Korea on 10 March 2006.

� Prof Francis Kornegay, SeniorResearcher; and Dr Jabu Dada, SeniorResearcher, Centre for Policy Studies,Doornfontein, South Africa 13 March 2006.

� Dr Mohan Chutani, IES on 14 March 2006.

� Dr. Soon Cheoul Lee, Fellow, KoreaInstitute for International Economic Policy(KIEP), Seoul, Korea on 20 and 27 March2006.

� Dr. Nagesh Singh, Director, PlanningCommission on 21 March 2006.

� Prof Peter Drysdale, Asia Pacific Schoolof Economics and Government, TheAustralian National University, Canberra on31 March 2006.