12 Things to Know in 2012: Industry and Trade

Date
5 October 2012
Subjects
Industry and trade

Industrial development and trade are key tools for driving growth and reducting poverty in Asia. Here are 12 things to know about industry and trade.

  1. Intraregional trade accounts for 55% of Asia's total trade, sharply up from about 43% in the early 1990s.
    Source: ADB publication Regional Cooperation and Integration Strategy
  1. Most of this increase in intraregional trade has been due to the rising share of intraregional trade in East Asia, which went from about 43% in the early 1990s to 55% in 2005.
    Source: ADB publication Regional Cooperation and Integration Strategy
  1. Intraregional trade in Asia is higher than the 46% figure for the North American Free Trade Area and only slightly below the 62% figure for the 15 European Union countries.
    Source: ADB publication Regional Cooperation and Integration Strategy
  1. Southern regions' share of total world trade more than doubled from 7% to 17% between 1990 and 2009.
    Source: ADB publication Asian Development Outlook 2012: Confronting Rising Inequality in Asia
  1. Developing Asia accounts for about 75% of south-south trade, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) alone accounting for about 40%.
    Source: ADB publication Asian Development Outlook 2012: Confronting Rising Inequality in Asia
  1. Trade between Asia and Latin America/Caribbean grew at over 20% a year in the past decade, reaching an estimated $442 billion in 2011.
    Source: ADB feature ADB, Fast Facts: Asia and Latin America and the Carribean
  1. As of January 2012 there were 18 free trade agreements amongst countries in Asia and Latin America/Caribbean. This figure may rise to 30 by 2020.
    Source: ADB feature ADB, Fast Facts: Asia and Latin America and the Carribean
  1. By 2040, some economists estimate that the combined gross domestic products (GDP) of the PRC and India will be 10 times larger than Europe's entire annual output.
    Source: ADB publication Development Asia, Apr-Jun 2012
  1. Developing Asia's service sector is to play a growing role as economies that graduated from agriculture to industry evolve further into service economies.
    Source: ADB publication Asian Development Outlook 2012 Update: Services and Asia's Future Growth
  1. Lack of human capital, inadequate infrastructure and restrictive regulations are major bottlenecks for developing a modern service sector.
    Source: ADB publication Asian Development Outlook 2012 Update: Services and Asia's Future Growth
  1. Small and Medium Enterprises play a key role in employment and income generation in Asia, accounting for an estimated 90% of all businesses and 60% of the workforce.
    Source: Industry and Trade
  1. Asia's future success depends, inter alia, on building much greater mutual trust and confidence among its major economies, which is vital for regional cooperation.
    Source: ADB publication Asia 2050: Realizing the Asian Century
More 12 Things to Know in 2012:
More stories like this: