Publications

stitute’s Annual Report 2020 provides overview of the Institute’s capacity building, research, and advocacy work in 2020, and offers outlook on year 2021. It summarizes the Institute’s work across numerous activities, such as COVID-19 related economic brief production for member governments; launch of CAREC Quarterly Economic Monitor; research on climate change, WASH, and legislative aspects of e-commerce; two research projects under the CAREC Think Tanks Network (CTTN), four research projects under the Visiting Fellow Program; establishment of e-Learning platform; delivery of 10 workshops and eight webinars; UN observer status acquisition, strategy mid-term review, and many more.

The paper on harnessing the role of technology in promoting safe tourism destinations in CAREC overviews losses incurred in the industry owing to the pandemic, discusses some deep-rooted challenges, lists benefits of technology application, and provides recommendations for CAREC members, also for multilateral development partners to revive the tourism industry and enhance its experience post-COVID-19.

Our new policy brief on harnessing the role of technology in promoting safe tourism destinations in CAREC overviews losses incurred in the industry owing to the pandemic, discusses some deep-rooted challenges, lists benefits of technology application, and provides recommendations for CAREC members, also for multilateral development partners to revive the tourism industry and enhance its experience.

This report summarizes the discussion of the virtual workshop jointly organized by the CAREC Institute and the Public Opinion Research Institute of Kazakhstan (PORI) delivered on 12 March 2021 with the aim to share the results of the vaccination perception polls in seven CAREC countries conducted under the CAREC Institute-PORI project. It provides differences, similarities, lessons for successful vaccination campaigns, and lists potential cooperation areas among CAREC countries explored.

The March 2021 conference tried to identify means to revisit and rethink past, present, and future of CAREC in the wake of the pandemic and catalyze research on acute topics including e-commerce taxation, e-government, fintech, tourism, debt sustainability, energy sector, workforce adaptability to the new normal, and many more. This report included the analysis and policy recommendations.

In this issue, we cover the CAREC Regional Integration Index with new data and findings, give details of SPS modernization developments in CAREC, announce research grants program and research conference, also narrate about the PRC’s 14th five-year-plan and new publications on CAREC.

This report provides summary of a 24 February 2021 workshop titled “Modernizing Sanitary-Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures in CAREC and Use of Digital Certification” organized jointly by the CAREC Institute and the Asian Development Bank.

The CAREC Institute has updated the data for the CAREC Regional Integration Index (CRII) which measures progress in regional economic cooperation and integration among the 11 member countries of the ADB-supported CAREC Program.

In this issue, we provide details of the border-crossing improvement workshop and share several other workshop reports.

This workshop report summarizes contents of the virtual workshop conducted during 14-22 January 2021 by the CAREC Institute and ADB on the topic of border crossing improvement with participation of project managers of the ADB-funded projects and international development partners who shared lessons of border improvement projects and relevant acute topics with other CAREC representatives.

In a new working paper on financial inclusion and fintech in CAREC, our staff discuss financial inclusion as an imperative to achieving economic growth in a globalized market, and as an essential element to accomplish important objectives, such as poverty alleviation, anti-corruption measures, employment, social equity, and wealth redistribution.

Trade helps drive inclusive growth and poverty reduction. Strong value added from trade-related activities contributes to economic growth and development in developing Asia. Global trade helps reallocate capital and labor toward sectors with comparative advantage.

Aid for Trade (AfT) is an integral part of official development assistance to developing countries, which aims to help recipients maximize the benefits of trade liberalization by improving their trade and productive capacities, infrastructure, and institutions.

The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation(CAREC) Program has established six corridors that crisscross the region, shortening structural distances for people and freight. It continues to chip away at barriers to trade by improving hardware and software elements that require cooperation between neighbors and the region in general.