Unlocking Trade Efficiency: CPMM Insights Drive Discussions at the 4th CAREC Research Conference

On August 29, 2024, the 4th CAREC Institute Research Conference featured a specialized session co-hosted with the ADB-PRC Regional Knowledge Sharing Initiative (RKSI), titled “Evidence from the CAREC Corridor Performance Measurement and Monitoring (CPMM) Database.” Experts utilized data from the CPMM Database to present strategies aimed at enhancing trade efficiency across the CAREC region. In his keynote address at the conference, Dr. Johannes F. Linn, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, underscored the CPMM as a vital tool for measuring reforms intended to improve transport and trade connectivity within the CAREC region, highlighting its uniqueness and the critical need for its ongoing maintenance to fully understand corridor efficiency dynamics and barriers.

The CPMM, an empirical framework developed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2009, meticulously tracks the time and cost of transporting goods across 11 CAREC countries, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and the People’s Republic of China. Over the past decade, the CPMM has been instrumental in pinpointing bottlenecks at border crossings, thereby aiding policymakers in optimizing procedures and improving regional trade facilitation

The session, moderated by Akiko Terada-Hagiwara, Principal Country Specialist at ADB, emphasized the importance of non-tariff measures in facilitating trade. “Understanding how best to facilitate cross-country trade is critical to support sustainable and inclusive development. It is more so for the CAREC region, where access to ocean ports is limited. The session aimed to enhance our understanding by using the granular data collected under ADB’s Corridor Performance Measurement and Monitoring project. We now know that non-tariff measures are more important in helping perishables such as food items and pharmaceutical products transported across the key border crossing points in the region,” Ms. Terada-Hagiwara noted.

Kijin Kim, Senior Economist at ADB, highlighted the significant impact of COVID-19 mobility restrictions on trade, noting a 23.7% increase in average clearance time at border crossing points (BCPs) in 2020, compared to the previous year. The broader implications of policy measures were also explored, with findings suggesting that stricter mobility restrictions could increase inbound cargo clearance times by up to 40%.

Dorothea Ramizo, Associate Economics Officer at ADB, addressed the effects of non-tariff measures on perishable goods, while Kamalbek Karymshakov, Vice-Rector and Professor at Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, discussed the role of infrastructure in facilitating international trade within Central Asia. Ghulam Samad, Chief of Research Division at CAREC Institute, examined the trade impacts of geographical proximity within the CAREC region.

Max Ee, a leading international consultant for CPMM, underscored the significance of the session, stating, “It is important to connect research and practical applications. Corridor Performance Measurement and Monitoring offers a rich database for 14 years with more than 2000 samples per year. We are grateful to CAREC Institute for organizing this seminar that promotes research and use cases. A marvelous job in promoting CPMM.”

The CAREC Institute, in partnership with ADB, remains committed to promoting the CPMM database for research and policy development, thereby contributing to the region’s economic resilience and connectivity.

For more information and access to the CPMM database, please visit the CPMM Page ( https://cpmm.carecprogram.org/)