Category: Trade Policy

Trade Performance and Competitiveness

This book was published in 2014 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific:

Trade Performance and Competitiveness

I co-authored the chapter: Logistics performance and trade: An analysis of India’s trade in intermediates with Bangladesh and Thailand

In this study, we investigated the link between logistics performance and trade in parts and components in the manufacturing industries. This is central to the growth of international production linkages and networks associated with the phenomenon of international production fragmentation. The focus was specifically on trade in two commodities – India’s export of yarn to Bangladesh and India’s import of air-conditioning equipment from Thailand.

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We develop a logistics services index for 20 Asia-Pacific countries based on data on a wide range of such services to quantify the link between logistic services and trade. The evidence suggests there is a two-way relationship between trade and logistics services such that improved logistics facilitate trade but increased trade, in turn, tends to enhance the quality of logistics. It is likely that expanded trade in turn can induce market and government policy responses. The wide differences observed in the quality of logistics service among the countries studied indicate that there is a large potential for improvement in logistics.

On Narendra Modi and his International Travels.

The Indian Prime Minister is making waves again. In the background of his recent trip to the United Kingdom, I draw attention to these sets of questions I asked back in April:

Can Narendra Modi’s charisma – and his international travels – power a new era of industry for India?

In the global media spotlight again, the Indian Prime Minister never fails to generate debate and frenzy. This time around, Indian-origin academics in the UK have asked questions in this open letter in the Guardian:

On his UK visit, Narendra Modi must be held accountable for his record on human rights in India.

So, what do we make of this ongoing debate?

Shree Narendra Modi clearly remains a controversial leader of our times. But perhaps what we need as a nation, is to work out a way to address the pertinent questions on the one hand and still work in the direction of the acclaimed Make in India.