BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:unctad.org BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a4cf6507d020 DTSTART:20231026T020200Z SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE DTEND:20231026T093000Z LOCATION:Phnom Penh\, Cambodia SUMMARY:National workshop on a new trade policy and aid for trade support p rogramme for Cambodia after LDC graduation CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Cambodia met the least developed country (LDC) graduation crite ria for the first time in 2021 and could graduate as early as 2027 dependi ng on the country’s assessment by the Committee for Development Policy ( CDP) in 2024. The loss of LDC trade preferences for Cambodia upon graduati on may hurt competitiveness and export performance as major exports\, esse ntially garments\, but also bicycles and shoes are placed in global value chains sensible to profit margins. Hence\, how to manage trade preferences \, trade contingency measures and rules of origin are crucial issues for C ambodia. The country has recently promulgated a new law on rules of origin and has made substantial steps to maintain viable the utilization of trad e preferences in the European Union for its growing bicycle industry.\n\nT his workshop will provide an opportunity to make further reflections on th e complex trade and investment scenario given the expansion of the trade a genda to new areas such as e-commerce and digital services as outlined in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Aid for Trade Report of 2022. The service s commitments and provisions on e-commerce under the Regional Comprehensiv e Economic Partnership (RCEP) may be expected to give fresh momentum to ac celerating digital services trade in the region if implementation is taken seriously. However\, the persisting digital divide among ASEAN countries may lead to varying degrees of liberalization and uneven distribution of d igital trade gains.\n\nThe report also contains suggestions on developing a forward-looking\, tailored research and capacity building program specif ically addressed to Cambodia’s needs. It has been the experience that pa rticipation to multilateral and regional trade initiatives geared towards liberalizing trade and investments require a capacity to evaluate proposal s and draft legislation related to domestic regulatory framework which LDC s may not adequately possess. Thus\, limited human and resource capacity m ay be an obstacle to Cambodia'\;s full participation in the global eco nomy.\n\nStarting from the new Cambodian Law on Rules of Origin\, the work shop aims to outline the modalities to progressively develop such capacity at national level. The main objective of the workshop is to continue and expand the policy dialogue among supporting institutions such as ADB and U NCTAD and the trade policy makers and regulators of Cambodia to identify t he trade policy options and related Aid for Trade assistance to address th e challenges faced by Cambodia. Specifically\, the workshop aims to identi fy new Aid for Trade needs to orient research and capacity-building assist ance required to support Cambodia in:\n\n\nImplementing their commitment u nder RCEP and other free trade agreements (FTAs) and increase their utiliz ation rates\;\nEfficiently negotiating new FTAs or updating commitments un der existing ones\; and\nIdentifying trade policy strategies to maintain a nd improve market access in main preference-giving countries after their g raduation and seeking alternative markets.\n\n\n \n<\;p style="\;te xt-align: justify\;\n\nView meeting on unctad.org\nhttps://unctad.org/meet ing/national-workshop-new-trade-policy-and-aid-trade-support-programme-cam bodia-after-ldc DTSTAMP:20260707T125128Z END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a4cf6507d05b DTSTART:20231027T020200Z SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE DTEND:20231027T093000Z LOCATION:Phnom Penh\, Cambodia SUMMARY:National workshop on a new trade policy and aid for trade support p rogramme for Cambodia after LDC graduation CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Cambodia met the least developed country (LDC) graduation crite ria for the first time in 2021 and could graduate as early as 2027 dependi ng on the country’s assessment by the Committee for Development Policy ( CDP) in 2024. The loss of LDC trade preferences for Cambodia upon graduati on may hurt competitiveness and export performance as major exports\, esse ntially garments\, but also bicycles and shoes are placed in global value chains sensible to profit margins. Hence\, how to manage trade preferences \, trade contingency measures and rules of origin are crucial issues for C ambodia. The country has recently promulgated a new law on rules of origin and has made substantial steps to maintain viable the utilization of trad e preferences in the European Union for its growing bicycle industry.\n\nT his workshop will provide an opportunity to make further reflections on th e complex trade and investment scenario given the expansion of the trade a genda to new areas such as e-commerce and digital services as outlined in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Aid for Trade Report of 2022. The service s commitments and provisions on e-commerce under the Regional Comprehensiv e Economic Partnership (RCEP) may be expected to give fresh momentum to ac celerating digital services trade in the region if implementation is taken seriously. However\, the persisting digital divide among ASEAN countries may lead to varying degrees of liberalization and uneven distribution of d igital trade gains.\n\nThe report also contains suggestions on developing a forward-looking\, tailored research and capacity building program specif ically addressed to Cambodia’s needs. It has been the experience that pa rticipation to multilateral and regional trade initiatives geared towards liberalizing trade and investments require a capacity to evaluate proposal s and draft legislation related to domestic regulatory framework which LDC s may not adequately possess. Thus\, limited human and resource capacity m ay be an obstacle to Cambodia'\;s full participation in the global eco nomy.\n\nStarting from the new Cambodian Law on Rules of Origin\, the work shop aims to outline the modalities to progressively develop such capacity at national level. The main objective of the workshop is to continue and expand the policy dialogue among supporting institutions such as ADB and U NCTAD and the trade policy makers and regulators of Cambodia to identify t he trade policy options and related Aid for Trade assistance to address th e challenges faced by Cambodia. Specifically\, the workshop aims to identi fy new Aid for Trade needs to orient research and capacity-building assist ance required to support Cambodia in:\n\n\nImplementing their commitment u nder RCEP and other free trade agreements (FTAs) and increase their utiliz ation rates\;\nEfficiently negotiating new FTAs or updating commitments un der existing ones\; and\nIdentifying trade policy strategies to maintain a nd improve market access in main preference-giving countries after their g raduation and seeking alternative markets.\n\n\n \n<\;p style="\;te xt-align: justify\;\n\nView meeting on unctad.org\nhttps://unctad.org/meet ing/national-workshop-new-trade-policy-and-aid-trade-support-programme-cam bodia-after-ldc DTSTAMP:20260707T125128Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR