RIS Diary July 2006 1

East Asia Summit held in Kuala Lumpurin December 2005 was an importantmilestone in the direction of launchingbroader regional cooperation in Asia. Withleaders of ASEAN, Japan, China, SouthKorea, India, Australia, and New Zealand,EAS is widely seen as a Forum that couldspark off a process of community building inEast Asia, culminating eventually into anAsian Economic Community as proposed byIndia. RIS has been following the emergingtrends and development in this respect as apart of its work programme on AsianEconomic Integration.

To take stock of the emerging strategicand economic configuration in the post-KualaLumpur phase, RIS organized a Seminar onthe East Asia Summit: Strategic andEconomic Issues on 26 April 2006.Ambassador A. N. Ram, former Secretary (ER),Ministry of External Affairs chaired the event.Dr. Eric Teo Chu Cheow, Council Secretary,

Seminar on East Asia Summit: Strategic andEconomic Issues

Vol.4 No. 3 July 2006

The free trade arrangements/regional tradingarrangements (FTAs/RTAs) have becomeimportant aspects of India’s trade policy.Therefore, it is important to examine anddiscuss the emerging trends and patternsresulting from the India-Sri Lanka Free TradeAgreement (ISLFTA) which was signed in1998 and became effective from April 2000.At present negotiations are going on to expandthe scope the ISLFTA to cover trade inservices and investments. The ISLFTA canalso be seen as a limited laboratory experimentin regional economic cooperation withinSouth Asia – as a precursor to South Asia FTA(SAFTA) launched this year.

In order to discuss the issues involvedin the aforesaid process, RIS organized aSeminar on India-Sri Lanka FTA: Trends andProspects in New Delhi on 20 April 2006.Dr. Arjun K. Sengupta, Chairman, RISchaired the Seminar. Thereafter discussionwas led by Dr. Saman Kelegama, ExecutiveDirector, Institute of Policy Studies of SriLanka, Colombo and Professor I. N. Mukherjiof the School of International Studies, JNU,

Seminar on India-Sri Lanka FTA: Trends and Prospects

(From left): Ambassador Shashank; Dr. Nagesh Kumar; H.E. Mr. C.R. Jayasinghe; Dr. Arjun K. Sengupta;Professor I. N. Mukherji; and Dr. Saman Kelegama at the Seminar.

(From left): Professor Muchkund Dubey; Mr. Rinzing Wangdi; Ambassador A N Ram; Dr. Eric Teo Chu Cheow;and Dr. Nagesh Kumar at the Seminar.

Singapore, Institute of International Affairs,Singapore and an eminent analyst andcommentator on Asian affairs, made apresentation to initiate the discussion. TheSeminar was also addressed by Professor

Muchkund Dubey, President, Council forSocial Development, and Mr. RinzingWangdi, Secretary (ER & Coord.), MEA. Ithad an extensive open discussion by a largenumber of participants.

who presented the Sri Lankan and Indianperspectives respectively. Remarks weremade by H.E. Mr. C.R. Jayasinghe, HighCommissioner of Sri Lanka, AmbassadorShashank, former Foreign Secretary,Ambassador I.P. Khosla, President,

Association of Indian Diplomats, Dr. NageshKumar, DG-RIS, among other participants.A large number of participants fromgovernment, business and industry, andacademic circles attended the seminar andparticipated in the discussion.

2 RIS Diary July 2006

Towards an Asian EconomicCommunity: An Agenda for ActionRIS has been conducting a major researchprogramme on Asian Economic Integrationsince 2002 supported by the Sasakawa PeaceFoundation. The research conducted underthe framework of the programme has founda compelling case for an Asian EconomicCommunity (AEC). It was shown that such agrouping would facilitate fuller exploitation ofthe region’s considerable resources forexpediting the process of its development.Besides conducting the studies on various areasof cooperation, the Programme has involved aseries of high-level conferences organized incollaboration with other Asian think-tanks inNew Delhi (March 2003), Tokyo (November2004), Taiyuan, P.R. of China (September2005), and New Delhi (November 2005). A newinstitutional network New Asia Forum, hasbeen set up with a dedicated websitewww.newasiaforum.org, and New AsiaMonitor, a new quarterly journal, besidesother outreach activities.

As a result of the research, policydialogue and advocacy undertaken, there isnow a greater awareness in Asia of therelevance of broader regional economicintegration. Asian leaders including twosuccessive Indian Prime Ministers havearticulated the vision of an Asian EconomicCommunity at their speeches at the ASEANSummits, among other forums. India andJapan have also agreed to work together tobuild an Asian Economic Community duringthe visit of Prime Minister Koizumi to Indiain April 2005. A new forum East AsiaSummit (EAS) was launched in December2005 in Kuala Lumpur with participation ofall major Asian countries, viz. ASEANcountries, Japan, China, South Korea, Indiaand also Australia and New Zealand. EAS iswidely expected to launch a process offormation of an East Asian Community(EAC) which could be an important step inthe direction of pan-Asian economicintegration and formation of an AsianEconomic Community.

Building on the work done during 2002/06, RIS has now launched a new phase ofthe programme for 2006/09 with the supportof Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Tokyo.During this phase, the particular focus of theproject would be on the agenda for actiontowards the vision of Asian economicintegration developed earlier. The studies willbe conducted on the roadmap for a possibleEast Asia Comprehensive EconomicCooperation Arrangement and its possiblecontours as inputs for the East Asia Summits.

Current Research/Advisory ActivitiesThere will be greater involvement ofparliamentarians, business and industry andmedia besides the think-tanks to take theproposals towards implementation. RIS alsoproposes to continue and further strengthenthe ongoing institutional networking andoutreach activities. In particular, the regionaldevelopment institutions such as AsianDevelopment Bank, the Economic and SocialCommission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP)of the United Nations, and the RegionalCentre in Colombo of United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP/RCC) willbe involved in the programme. Contact fordetails: dgoffice@ris.org.in

Feasibility of SACU-India-Mercosur(SIM) Economic PartnershipAs is well known, during the last one yearIndia, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) hadbeen engaged in negotiations to enter intoSouth-South cooperation and strengtheneconomic partnership. There are significantsynergies between these countries as theyhave substantial capabilities in differentsectors. During India’s engagement it hasbeen decided to expand the cooperation withBrazil and South Africa to that between India,Mercosur and SACU for the technical reasonthat Brazil and South Africa are members oftwo different custom unions, namelyMercosur and SACU and are bound tomaintain a common external tariff with otherpartners. Therefore, India is to explore thepossibility of trade negotiations withMercosur and SACU group of countries. Toframe India’s position and understand theissues involved, the Department ofCommerce, Ministry of Commerce andIndustry, Government of India has entrustedRIS to conduct study on trade in industrialgoods and investment as part of exploring thepossibility of trade arrangement withMercosur and SACU. Apart from conductingthe study on trade in industrial goods andinvestment RIS will also prepare a synthesisreport covering also inputs from the studieson agricultural goods and trade in servicesconducted by others. Contact for furtherdetails: dgoffice@ris.org.in.

South-South Cooperation in IT:Lessons from India's SuccessExchange of development experiencesbetween developing countries is an importantaspect of South-South Cooperation. In thatcontext, emergence of India is an importantplayer on the global scene in the area of ITsoftware and it has attracted attention fromthe development community on taking

lessons from Indian success for otherdeveloping countries. Earlier RIS studieshave documented the factors especiallypublic polity measures that led to India’ssuccess in the sector and possible lessons forother developing countries especially in thecontext of lesser developed ASEAN (CLMV)countries. Building on the earlier work, thepresent study will put the India achievementin a national and international perspective. Itwill study (a) implications and externalitiesof the rise of IT software industry for differentparameters of national development, and (b)role of policies and institution-building inbuilding capabilities and draw lessons forother developing countries. The study is beingconducted in conjunction with the SouthernDevelopment Solutions programme launchedby the UNDP, New York (South-SouthCooperation Unit). Contact for further details:dgoffice@ris.org.in.

India’s Economic Relationship andProspects of Trade and Investmentwith ChinaThe Department of Commerce, Ministry ofCommerce and Industry has assigned RIS toprepare annual report on India’s economicrelationship and prospects of trade andinvestment with China. Apart from providingan overview of the state of the economy ofChina its implications for India, RIS studywill focus on and examine: developments inthe trade relationship of China in the last oneyear and their economic significance forIndia; China’s bilateral trade relationshipswith other major trading partners; regionalagreements; developments in WTO relatingto China that will impact India and the issuessuch as disputes/position in multilateral tradenegotiations, etc.; and China’s policy onOverseas Development Assistance and itsimpact on India in terms of projects/sectors.The study will also have a chapter on strategicand political relationship. Contact for furtherdetails: dgoffice@ris.org.in.

Traditional Knowledge and BenefitSharing with Developing CountriesIn the context of commercial exploitation ofbiodiversity and traditional knowledge bycorporations, benefit sharing is an area ofincreasing international debate at the differentlevels of policy making including at WHO,WTO and WIPO. RIS is participating in aninternational project launched by Universityof Central Lancashire supported by theEuropean Commission on “Sharing with

Continued on page 3

RIS Diary July 2006 3

RIS has a major programme of research andadvocacy on broader regional cooperationin Asia. As part of this programme, wehave organized high-level conferences onAsian Economic Integration from time totime. RIS has been following the emergingtrends and development in building anAsian economic community, in whichJapan, being the largest economy of Asia,has to play a major role.

RIS organized a Talk on Japan’s ForeignPolicy in Retrospect by Ambassador AkiraSugino from Japan on 24 May 2006.Ambassador A.N. Ram, former Secretary(ER), Ministry of External Affairs chairedthe Talk. The participants included Mr.Rinzing Wangdi, Secretary (ER & Coord.),MEA, Mr. Rajshekher, Director (East), MEA,among others. Dr. Rajesh Mehta, SeniorFellow, RIS welcomed the participants onbehalf of RIS.

Ambassador Sugino had joined theJapanese Foreign Ministry in 1959 just afterthe Pacific War when Japan, recovering fromher defeat, maneuvered an independentforeign policy under the leadership of PrimeMinister (Foreign Minister) Yoshida. Thethree principles of Japan’s Foreign Policywere: 1) that Japan will stay as a member ofthe free world, 2) that Japan will strive forsolidarity with Asian nations, and 3) thatJapan will actively participate in theinternational cooperation centered around theUnited Nations. Although Japan had sufferedsevere losses during the Second World Warat the hands of US, she had to forge analliance with the US later on, concedingextensive rights to military bases withinJapanese territories, because of deepeningEast-West confrontation. Japan’s new

Talk on Japan’s Foreign Policy in Retrospect

constitutional law was based on the draftprepared under the orders of GeneralMacArthur, the Supreme Commander of theAllied Nations, with an aim to demilitarise anddemocratise Japan It was in this period onlythat Japan had to make efforts to normaliseher relations with Russia and China withwhich she had fought imperialist wars earlier.Japan also had to make special efforts toimprove relations with the Asian countrieslike Korea which had earlier sufferedJapanese militarism. Under American militaryprotection Japan focused on economicreconstruction in the 1950s and 1960s and by1970 Japanese economy had grown thelargest, next only to the US. However, close

relations with the US and its image as a USally did, to a certain extent, hinder Japan’srelations with countries like Russia and Asiancountries like Korea, China. AmbassadorSugino also pointed out that the future taskbefore the Japanese Foreign Policy would beto give her people a sense of purpose, whichhas been affected due to the reactive foreignpolicy of Japan. After suffering a severeeconomic slowdown and stagnatingeconomy, the Japanese economy is againgoing robust. With changing geo-politicalrelations Japan, being one of the largest Asianeconomies, is expanding her economiccooperation and becoming a significantplayer in international arena.

Mr. Rinzing Wangdi; Ambassador A.N. Ram; Ambassador Akira Sugino; and Dr. Rajesh Mehta at theprogramme.

Continued on page 2 (Current Research/Advisory Activities)

Developing Countries – from Biodiversity toHuman Genomics”. The other partnerinstitutions are University of Preston, UnitedKingdom; University of the Witwatersrand;University of South Africa; Centre d’Ethique,France; Vilnius University (VU), Vilnius,Lithuania; and University of the Philippines(UP), Manila, Philippines. Despite the centralsignificance of this especially in context ofeconomic implications for the indigenouscommunity, these have hardly been discussedor researched in depth. Benefit sharing occursmainly in two areas: human genetic bankingfor the purpose of pharmacogenomics orpopulation genomics research (humangenetic resources), and use of traditionalknowledge from indigenous communitiesmainly by the pharmaceutical industry to

develop new products (non-human geneticresources).

This project seeks to establish aninterdisciplinary team of economists,ethicists, lawyers, medical doctors, specialistsin gender studies, representatives ofindigenous communities and policy-advisorsfrom five continents. The teams will studyfour paradigmatic international case studies(from India, South Africa, Iceland, andKenya) to provide a profound state-of-the-artanalysis for benefit sharing in the context ofhuman and non-human resources. Based onthis comparative research, the main aim ofthis project is to promote policy developmentsby developing an “economies/ethics healthcheck” for benefit sharing agreementsinvolving vulnerable groups and communities

in the area of human genetics. Contact forfurther details: sachin@ris.org.in.

Policy Notes prepared for theGovernment of India

A comprehensive Note on Relevance ofAPEC for India was prepared and madeavailable to the Ministry of ExternalAffairs on 10 April 2006 for internaldiscussion.Note on South Asian Performance andChallenges Ahead was made availableto the Department of Economic Affairs,Ministry of Finance on 1 July 2006.Final versions of Chapters 6 and 7 ofIndia – Japan Joint Study Group weresubmitted to the Ministry of ExternalAffairs, Government of India.

4 RIS Diary July 2006

Faculty NewsDr. Nagesh Kumar, Director-General

Participated in the informal Meeting ofSACEPS Executive Board in New Delhi on12 April 2006.

Chaired the Meeting of the Expert Groupon a Consistent Interpretation of thePrecautionary Principle/Approach inApplication to Different Agreements, held on17 April 2006.

Participated in the Steering CommitteeMeeting of the 34th World MarketingCongress, organized by the Institute ofMarketing & Management, New Delhi on21 April 2006.

Participated in the Editorial Luncheonwith Mr. Michael Elliott for a discussion on“Is There Room for Two? India-China andthen Global Economy, organized by theTIME Magazine in News Delhi on 28 April2006.

Made a presentation on India’s ExternalTrade Challenges with respect to recentchanging world trade patterns at theCorporate Checkmate, organized by theJagan Institute of Management Studies inNew Delhi on 29 April 2006.

Participated in the Luncheon Meeting withthe Members of Parliament, Japan, organizedby CII in New Delhi on 1 May 2006.

Participated in the First Meeting of theWorking Group on “Challenges andOpportunities of Globalization on ExternalSector” for formulation of the Eleventh FiveYear Plan, organized by the PlanningCommission in New Delhi on 8 May 2006.

Chaired the Seventh Audit CommitteeMeeting of India Habitat Centre, New Delhion 12 May 2006.

Participated in the Indian componentmeeting of the India-Japan JSG held in NewDelhi on 29 May 2006.

Participated in India-Japan JSG Meetingheld in Tokyo on 6-7 June 2006.

Made a presentation on the RIS studyTowards an Employment-Oriented ExportStrategy in the Ministry of Commerce andIndustry, New Delhi on 12 June 2006.

Dr. Rajesh Mehta, Senior FellowMade a presentation on Non-Tariff

Barriers and South Asia at the Session onNon-Agriculture Market Access in the SouthAsia Consultation on WTO and South Asia:Strategies Beyond Hong Kong, organizedjointly by Centad and UNDP-Colombo on 21-22 April 2006.

Jury Member for Exim BankInternational Economic DevelopmentResearch Annual (IEDRA) Award 2006, andexamined entries related to InternationalEconomics, Trade & Development andrelated Financing.

Prepared a paper on Impact of WTO onIndia and as Group Coordinator presentedcoordinator report on WTO and South Asia

at the South Asian Journal Conference onEnvisioning South Asia organized by theSouth Asian Free Media Association(SAFMA) on 29-30 April.

Dr. S.K. Mohanty, FellowParticipated in the First Sub-Regional

Workshop on Trade and Environment in thePacific, organized by UNESCAP in Suva, Fijion 7-8 June 2006.

Dr. Sachin Chaturvedi, FellowMade a presentation on Biosafety and

Trade Related Issues at the Short-termOrientation Course on Biosafety and BiotechRegulations, organized by TERI School ofAdvanced Studies in New Delhi on 7 April2006.

Made a presentation on the Labelling,Traceability and Trade related Issues at theNational Consultation on Regulation ofGenetically Modified Food, organized byBCIL on 27 April 2006.

Made a presentation on Impact ofGlobalization on Select MDGs: AssessingPolicy Options at CommonwealthParliamentary Association/ 21st CenturyTrust, held on 13-19 May 2006 inBangalore.

Made a presentation (in absentia) onPrior Informed Consent, Benefit Sharing andKani Case in India at the Project Meeting,organized by University of Cape Town andWelcome Trust on 1-2 June 2006 in CapeTown, South Africa.

Made a presentation on NewTechnologies in Agriculture: What are thePolicy Issues at the International Conferenceon Sustainable Agriculture for Food andNutritional Security, organized by TERI inNew Delhi on 26 May 2006.

Made a presentation on Biotechnologyand Trade Related Issues at TERI School ofAdvanced Studies, New Delhi on 8 June2006.

Dr. Ram Upendra Das, FellowCourse-leader for the course on SAARC

Integration in the First SAARC ChamberAcademy, organized by EUROCHAMBERS,Brussels and SCCI on 24-27 May 2006 atKandy, Sri Lanka.

Made a presentation on Potential ofTrade and Economic Cooperation betweenIndia and Pakistan in the Workshop onInfrastructural Linkages between thePakistan-Punjab and Indian-Punjab,organized by the Centre for Research in Ruraland Industrial Development (CRRID) on 12May 2006 in Chandigarh.

Made a presentation on Trade andInvestment Cooperation between India & GCCunder the Comprehensive EconomicCooperation Agreement in the InteractiveSession on India-GCC Free Trade Agreement,

jointly organized by the Ministry ofCommerce & Industry and Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII) on 4 May 2006 inMumbai.

Key Speaker on Regional Trade andEconomic Cooperation: Analytical andPolicy Issues at the Workshop on WTO-related Issues for Government Officials in theSAARC Region, organized by TERI on 3May 2006 in New Delhi.

Made a presentation on InvestmentCooperation between India & GCC under theComprehensive Economic CooperationAgreement in the Interactive Session onIndia-GCC Comprehensive EconomicCooperation Agreement, jointly organized byFICCI and the Ministry of Commerce &Industry, Government of India on 1 May 2006in New Delhi.

Participated in the Meeting of Joint StudyGroup (JSG) on the Feasibility of EstablishingComprehensive Economic CooperationAgreement (CECA) between India andMalaysia, organized by the Ministry ofCommerce & Industry on 20 April 2006 inNew Delhi.

Made a presentation on SAARC:Potentials and Problems at Special Course forAfghan Diplomats, organized by the ForeignService Institute, Ministry of External Affairson 18 April 2006 in New Delhi.

Made a presentation at National Seminaron Rules of Origin, organized by WorldCustoms Organization, Brussels, at NationalAcademy for Customs, Excise and Narcotics(NACEN), Government of India on 13 April2006 in Faridabad.

Dr. Pooja Sharma, FellowMade a presentation on economic

cooperation between India and East Asia, atthe Project Inception Workshop on AsianDevelopment Bank Study on EconomicCooperation between East Asia and SouthAsia., held on 1-2 June 2006 in Manila,Philippines.

Dr. Somesh K. Mathur, FellowPaper on Growth Accounting for Some

Developed, Newly Industrialized andDeveloping Countries from 1966-2000: AData Envelopment Analysis was accepted forpresentation at the Spring Meeting of YoungEconomist held at Seville, Spain on 26-28May 2006.

Dr. Prabir De, Associate FellowParticipated as discussant in a Dialogue

on India – China Economic Cooperation,organized by the Maulana Abul Kalam AzadInstitute of Asian Studies, Kolkata on 3 April,2006.

Continued on page 5

RIS Diary July 2006 5

On behalf of the Foreign Service Institute,Ministry of External Affairs RIS organized aTraining Programme Global EconomicRegime and India’s Economic Engagementsfor IFS Probationers (2005 Batch) at RIS onJune 12-16, 2006. The programme beganwith an introductory session by Dr. NageshKumar, Director-General, RIS and Dr. RamUpendra Das, Fellow, RIS. The topic coveredduring the training programme were:emerging international regime concerningbio-diversity and international trade inGMOs; world trading system anddevelopment, textiles and clothing: meetingthe challenges of a quota-free environment;India’s trade performance under reforms; FDIin a globalized economy: theory and Indianexperience; regional economic cooperationin South Asia: potentials and constraints;India’s economic integration with ASEAN;rules of origin (ROO); conceptual issues andIndia’s negotiating concerns; emerging trendsin East Asian regionalism: strategic optionsfor India; regional economic integration inASEAN; and Asian energy cooperation.Special workshops at which trainees madetheir own presentations were also held during

the course of the programme. The experts,who addressed the trainees, included: H.E.Mr. See Chak Mun, High Commissioner ofSingapore; Mr. Talmiz Ahmad, Director-General, ICWA; Dr. Nagesh Kumar,Director-General, RIS; Mr. B.S. Bishnoi,Joint Secretary (MER), Ministry of ExternalAffairs; Mr. D.K. Nair of the Confederation

Training Programme for IFS Probationers

of Indian Textile Industry; New Delhi; Dr.Ram Upendra Das, Fellow, RIS; Dr. SachinChaturvedi, Fellow, RIS; and Dr. PoojaSharma, Fellow, RIS. Professor MuchkundDubey, President, Council for SocialDevelopment, New Delhi delivered theValedictory Address. Dr. Ram Upendra Daswas the course coordinator.

Training Workshop on InternationalEconomic Issues

IFS Probationers at the valedictory session of the programme with Prof. Muchkund Dubey andDr. Ram Upendra Das.

RIS on behalf of the Government of India has been organizing training programmes ondifferent aspects of International Economic Relations for the officers of the variousdepartments. Recently, RIS organized a special Training Workshop on InternationalEconomic Issues for officials of the Cabinet Secretariat on June 22-23, 2006 at RIS. Thetopic covered during this special training programme were: WTO negotiations andimplications for developing countries; WTO agreement on agriculture: The post-Hong Kongdebate; TRIPS, public health and traditional knowledge; some perspectives of commercialdiplomacy; international trade flows and security concerns; FDI in a globalized economy:theory & Indian experiences; regional economic cooperation in South Asia: potentials andconstraints; and emerging trends in east Asian regionalism: strategic options for India. Thefaculty for the programme included experts from RIS, the Government of India, and otherresearch institutions. Dr. Ram Upendra Das was the course coordinator.

Presented a paper on Why Trade CostsMatter? at the WTO/ESCAP SecondARTNeT Capacity Building Workshop onTrade Research, held on 17-21 April 2006 inBangkok.

Participated in the International Seminaron Developing Countries and ServicesNegotiations, organized by ICRIER on 6–7June, 2006 in New Delhi.

Dr. Samir Ranjan Pradhan, VisitingResearch Associate

Participated in the Second ARTNeTCapacity Building Workshop for Trade

Continued from page 4 (Faculty News)

Research, organized jointly by UNESCAPand WTO in Bangkok on 17-21 April 2006.

Abinash Dash, Visiting ResearchAssociate

Participated in the Discussion Meetingon two studies: India and China into WTO –Building Complementarities andCompetitiveness in the External Trade Sector;and Employment Implication of GrowingExports – With special focus on ServicesExports, organized by the Institute for Studiesin Industrial Development on 1 May 2006 inNew Delhi.

Participated in the Seminar on: HuJintao’s Recent Visit to the US and Africa,organized by ICS (CSDS) on 10 May 2006in New Delhi.

Participated in the Seminar on AnAssessment of China’s development in thenext ten years and its implications for theneighboring countries, organized by theCentre for the Study of Developing Societies(CSDS) in New Delhi on 17 May 2006.

Participated in the International Seminaron Developing Countries and ServicesNegotiations, organized by ICRIER on 6-7June in New Delhi.

Special Orientation onWTO for

Foreign Diplomats

At the request of the Foreign ServiceInstitute, Ministry of External Affairs,New Delhi RIS organized a two lecturesession on the International TradingSystem for the Afghan diplomats on 25April 2006. In this session Dr. NageshKumar, DG-RIS and Dr. SachinChaturvedi, Fellow, RIS addressed theparticipants on the theme.

6 RIS Diary July 2006

Latest PublicationsRIS Policy Briefs#26 India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Economic Cooperation:

Towards a Comprehensive Economic PartnershipIBSA constitutes a large and expanding economic space where in the total two-way trade is close to US$ 400 billion currently. The share of intra-IBSA trade intheir total trade has been approximately 2 per cent (about US$ 5 billion) in 2002.The New Delhi Action Plan has put an ambitious goal for doubling the mutualtrade by 2007. To achieve this target several measures will be necessary. To exploitthe synergies and potential of cooperation for mutual benefit, IBSA countries canexplore an IBSA Comprehensive Economic Partnership Arrangement coveringvarious aspects covered in the Policy Briefs.

#25 Case for a Robust India-Taiwan Economic PartnershipIndia needs to pursue more result-oriented and skilful economic diplomacy if it isto take advantage of mutually beneficial opportunities in engaging Taiwan. Onits part, Taiwan needs to engage more deeply with India by shedding some of itscultural and other inhibitions if it is to diversify its global trade and investmentrisks, and expand its economic space.

#24 Towards Comprehensive Economic Co-operation betweenIndia and Central Asian RepublicsThere are several areas where India and Central Asian Republics (CARs) can co-operate for mutual benefit. There is an urgent need to develop an institutionalmechanism for promoting such broad-based co-operation. The old approach offorming FTAs is inadequate for that purpose. Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (CECA), as initiated between India and Singapore, couldbe a better model for promoting co-operation between India and CARs.

#23 The Case for an Asian Currency Unit: Need for a Broad-basedApproachThe ACU has a far better chance for success (in terms of becoming a significantregional vehicle currency) if a larger set of countries is included in the basket. Inthis regard it is imperative that the ACU be broadened from the proposed ASEANplus Three (APT) countries to also include India, Australia and New Zealand [theother members of the inaugural East Asian Summit (EAS)], all of which havesignificant financial market depth. It is myopic for monetary and financialregionalism to be limited to only the APT economies while excluding the largeand dynamic Indian economy and a mature and well-developed Australianeconomy, both of which, along with New Zealand, are consciously looking tointegrate themselves with the rest of East Asia and have been doing so on a defacto basis.

Discussion Papers#111 Demographic Complementarities and Outsourcing:

Implications and Challenges for India by Mukul G. Asher andAmarendu NandyThis paper analyses the implications of differing global demographic trends forIndia’s competitiveness in outsourcing and offshoring. It also briefly notes theimplications of differing demographic trends among the Indian states. The paperargues that demographic complementarities with high-income countries provideIndia with one-time opportunity to sustain its growth rate and occupy all segmentsof global outsourcing and offshoring activities. India has used the labor costadvantage to gain reasonable market share in these activities. It, however, facesserious internal and external challenges in sustaining its internationalcompetitiveness, particularly with respect to labor cost. With sustained focus onhuman resource development, diversification and upgradation policies India cancontinue to at least maintain its global market share, and help nurture globallycompetitive companies.

#110 Reinventing UNCTAD: Some Proposals for the UNCTADMid-term Review by Muchkund DubeyDeveloped countries have made a concerted effort to change and dismantleUNCTAD over a period of nearly 15 years. It may take the developing countriesmany years to revive and reinvent the organization. But, UNCTAD must recoverits voice and regain the support and respect of developing countries who haveidentified with it and its mission for decades. There cannot be a more opportunemoment than now to begin a campaign to restore the pre-eminence of UNCTADand bring it back to the forefront of multilateral effort to deal with the currentcomplex global development challenges and build a stable, viable and genuinelydemocratic international community. UNCTAD’s broad mandate is singularly suitedfor a new age where promoting development, democracy and equity is one of theprincipal challenges and pre-conditions for a peaceful and cooperative world.

#109 Trade Facilitation Priorities in India and Commitments atWTO: An Overview of Current Trends by Sachin ChaturvediThe current mandate of the Negotiating Group for Trade Facilitation (NGTF) isto clarify and improve the three articles, viz. Articles V, VIII and X of the GATT1994. India has initiated several measures as part of the Trade Facilitation (TF)

programme. While most of the measures have already been put in place in thecontext of Articles VIII and X, the ones left involve significant costs and requirecareful planning for implementation. In case of Article V, there are certainly majorgaps. In countries like India, where trade facilitation is an ongoing exercise, precisecost estimation is a difficult preposition. This includes additional efforts requiredto support and strengthen the level of communication at the border points. Mostof the Land Customs Stations (LCSs) require better infrastructure. The current TFprogramme may have to go beyond current mandate and take into account specificWTO commitments which may emerge during the ongoing negotiations as perthe GATT Articles V, VIII and X. In this paper, an effort is made to take stock ofthe needs, priorities and cost of implementation of these Articles for India. Theseground realities hold important implications for any undertaking by India at theTF negotiations of the WTO. However, given the considerable infrastructuralgaps, the Indian negotiating team should exhibit extreme caution towards thenew proposals and ideas but should display pragmatism, at least for the measuresthat have already been implemented in India.

JournalsSouth Asia Economic Journal, Vol. 7 No. 1. January-June2006.Contents: Impact of Protection on Domestic Processing of Primary Commoditiesfor Export Markets: An Example from the Sri Lankan Tea Industry by GamindaGanewatta, Robert Waschik, Sisira Jayasuriya and Geoff Edwards; Trade Policyreforms and Openness of Indian Agriculture: Analysis at the Commodity Level bySeema Bathla; Money, Income and Prices in Pakistan: A Bivariate and Tri-variateCausality by Kalbe Abbas and Fazal Husain; Market Efficiency for the PakistanStock Market: Evidence from the Karachi Stock Exchange by MadhumitaChakraborty; Analysing India's Trade Dynamics vis-á-vis SAARC Members Usingthe Gravity Model by Biswajit Nag and Anisha Nandi; On the Incentives of Violence:Greed and Pride in Sri Lanka's Civil War by Benedikt Korf and Stefanie Engel.

Asian Biotechnology and Development Review, Vol. 8 No. 2.March 2006.Special Issue on Biofuels and South Asia: Policy OptionsGuest Editor: K.V. RajuContents: Biofuels in South Asia: An Overview by K.V. Raju; ImprovedLivelihoods and Environmental Protection through Biodiesel Plantations in Asiaby Suhas P. Wani, M. Osman, Emmanuel D’Silva, and T.K. Sreedevi; LiquidBiofuels in South Asia: Resources and Technologies by Linoj Kumar NV, PrabhaDhavala, Anandajit Goswami, and Sameer Maithel; Biofuel Laws in Asia:Instruments for Energy Access, Security, Environmental Protection and RuralEmpowerment by M P Ram Mohan, G T Thomas Phillippe and M V Shiju;Biofuels and WTO: An Emerging Context by R S Deshpande • Bio News •Document: Biofuel Policies in Asia • Bio Web • Bio Stat.

New Asia Monitor, Vol. 3 No. 2, April 2006.

Outside Publications of RIS Faculty MembersResearch PapersChaturvedi, Sachin. 2006. “India, the European Union and

Geographical Indications” in Rajendra K Jain and HartmutElsenhans (eds) India, the European Union and the WTO. NewDelhi: Radiant Publishers.

De, Prabir. 2006. "Regional Trade in Northeast Asia: Why Do TradeCosts Matter?" CNAEC Research Series 06-02. Korea Institutefor International Economic Policy (KIEP), Seoul.

De, Prabir. 2006. "Why Trade Costs Matter?". ARTNeT WorkingPaper Series No. 7, UNESCAP, Bangkok.

Kumar, Nagesh. 2006. "India and the Asian Economic Community:Relevance, Approaches and Prospects for Pan-AsianIntegration". Indian Foreign Affairs Journal. Vol. 1, No. 2. April-June.

Mathur, Somesh. 2006. “Financing and Privatization of DelhiInternational Airport” in Infrastructure Financing: An Overviewby Y. Chandrasekhar and Deepak Kumar (eds). Hyderabad: TheICFAI University Press.

Mehta, Rajesh. 2006. “Implications of WTO on India’s trade Policy”.The South Asian Journal. Free Media Foundation and facilitatedby South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA). April-June,No.12, pp. 18-28.

Continued on page 7

RIS Diary July 2006 7

RIS in Media

Mehta, Rajesh. 2006. “Impact of WTO on India” and “WTOand South Asia” (synthesis report) for 14 volumes ondifferent aspects of South Asia published by South AsianFree Media Association (SAFMA).

Mehta, Rajesh. 2006. “Role of WTO in Developing of GlobalTrade in Processed Foods: SPS and TBT Issues”. IndianFood Packer. Journal of the All India Food Processors’Association (AIFPA). Vol. 60, March-April, No.2, pp 20-25.

Sharma, Pooja (co-author). 2006. “GSTP: The Dynamics.”Margin, Vol. 38 (2), Jan-March, pp. 53-81.

Popular ColumnsAgarwala, Ramgopal. 2006. “Breaking the pension system reform

logjam”. The Financial Express. April 4.Kumar, Nagesh. 2006. “Towards a jobs-oriented export strategy”.

The Hindustan Times. April 8.Kumar, Nagesh. 2006. “Asian Currency Unit minus Indian

rupee?”. The Financial Express. April 25.Kumar, Nagesh. 2006. “Can a Common Currency Work in

Asia?”. The Times of India, May 14.

Continued from page 6 (Latest Publications)

Kumar, Nagesh. 2006. “Towards an East Asian Economic Unit”. TheFinancial Express. June 20.

Chaturvedi, Sachin. 2006. “Foreign Trade: The Unfinished Agenda”.Deccan Herald. June 12.

Das, Ram Upendra. 2006. “Both should recognize each other’spriorities”. The Financial Express. May 17.

Das, Ram Upendra. 2006. “Start of Long Road”. The FinancialExpress. May 17.

Screening of the film on NAMA special session for screening the documentary film The UnfinishedRevolution was organized in RIS on 29 June 2006 for the benefit ofthe RIS faculty members and other select invitees. The programmebegan with the welcome remarks made by Dr. Nagesh Kumar, DG-RIS. Mr. Rinzing Wangdi, Secretary (ER), Ministry of ExternalAffairs presided over the event. The documentary, directed by notedfilm maker Mr. Suhas Borker, traces the evolution of NAM fromBelgrade (1961) to Durban (1998) and examines the validity andrelevance of the NAM for the future.

8 RIS Diary July 2006

Managing Editor: Tish Kumar Malhotra

Important Visitors/Delegations Received

RIS

Mr. Christopher Langman, Head,Australia’s Office of Trade Negotiations anda key WTO negotiator for Australia on 5 April2006.

Ms. Jamie M. Zimmerman, AssociateDirector, Globalization Studies, WashingtonCenter, Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,on 18 April 2006.

Mr. Shivesh K. Sinha, DevelopmentDirector-Asia, LAFARGE, Malaysia on 19April 2006.

Dr. B. Balakrishnan, Ambassador ofIndia to Greece on 24 April 2006.

Mr. Pankaj Gupta, Deputy GeneralManager, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd.on 24 April 2006.

Mr. N.V.R.K. Murthy, Asst.Administrative Officer, Delhi Centre,National Institute of Design on 25 April 2006.

Dr. G.V.C. Naidu and Dr. ShebontiDadwal, Institute for Defence Studies andAnalysis (IDSA) on 26 April 2006.

Prof. Sumangla Damodaran, Lady ShriRam College, Delhi University on 28 April2006.

Prof. Gulshan Sachdeva, Centre forEuropean Studies, Jawaharlal NehruUniversity on 10 May 2006.

Mr. Francois Kruger, FinancialCounsellor and Mr. Colas Hennion, DeputyFinancial Attache, Embassy of France, NewDelhi on 19 May 2006.

Prof. John Whalley, University ofWestern Ontario, Canada on 1 May 2006.

Mr. Sun Weidong, Counsellor (Political),Embassy of China, New Delhi on 11 May2006.

Mr. Maxim G. Ternovskiy, FirstSecretary, Embassy of Russia, New Delhiand Mr. Alexey M. Moiseev, Adviser of theTrade Representative, Trade Representationof the Russian Federation, New Delhi on 15May 2006.

Dr. Mukul Asher, Professor, Lee KuanYew School of Public Policy, NationalUniversity of Singapore on 24 May 2006.

Mr. Oike, Director, Economic PartnershipAgreement, Japan on 31 May 2006.

Prof. K. Keshavan, JNU on 1 June 2006.

Mr. Oscar Kerketta, Deputy Secretary(SAARC), Ministry of External Affairs on 6June 2006.

Mr. Regis Avanthay, Head, Global Issuesand Sustainable Development Divison, SwissAgency for Development and Cooperation,Switzerland; Mr. Adrian Marti, Deputy

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

French delegation visits RISAs part of the sixth session of the Diplomatic Institute of France, a delegation consisting ofhigh rank officials from various French ministries, like Ministry of External Affairs, Ministryof Defence, etc. visited RIS on 23 May 2006 for an interactive session at RIS. Dr. RajeshMehta, Senior Fellow made welcome remarks. Dr. Ram Upendra Das, Fellow, delivered aspecial lecture for the benefit of the delegates.

Country Director, Swiss Cooperation OfficeIndia, Embassy of Switzerland, New Delhi;and Dr. Sailendra Narain, Regional Advisor,Swiss Agency for Development andCooperation, Mumbai on 16 June 2006.

Dr. Jaspal Singh Sindharh, Ph.DCandidate, Department of InternationalRelations, School of Advanced InternationalStudies, John Hopkins University,Washington D C on 27 June 2006.

Dr. Masanori Kondo, AssociateProfessor of Economics, Division ofInternational Studies International ChristianUniversity, Japan on 22 June 2006.

Mr. John Arnold, Consultant, AsianDevelopment Bank on 30 June 2006.

Ambassador Aftab Seth, formerAmbassador to Japan on 30 June 2006.

Dr. Ray Trewin, Australian Centre forInternational Agricultural Research (ACIAR)on 24 April 2006.

Ms. Heather Ward, Deputy HighCommissioner, New Zealand HighCommission in India on 31 May 2006.

Mr. Tomofumi Inoue, First Secretary,Embassy of Japan, New Delhi on 23 June2006.

Mr. Sakata Hisashi, First Secretary,Embassy of Japan, New Delhi on 23 June2006.

Dr. Garry Pursell, World Bank on 19 June2006.

Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri, AssistantExecutive Director, SustainableDevelopment Policy Institute (SDPI),Islamabad, Pakistan on 15 June 2006.

Mr. Ajit Seth, IAS, ResidentCommissioner, Government of Uttar Pradesh,New Delhi on 25 May 2006.

Dr. K.C. Reddy, Chairman, A.P. StateCouncil of Higher Education, Hyderabad.

Mr. Decio M. Ripandelli, Director,ICGEB, Italy on 29 June 2006.

Dr. Ashok Gulati, Director and Mark W.Rosegrant, Director, IFPRI on 29 June 2006.

Dr. Eija Pehu, The World Bank on 29June 2006.

Members of the French delegation with RIS faculty members.