India (Common Wealth) _According to a report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP), India is now the best-performing country in the South Asian area in terms of trade facilitation. According to the Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation, India improved its score from the survey conducted in 2021.
The 2023 research, which included more than 140 economies and evaluated 60 trade facilitation indicators, placed India at the forefront of global trade facilitation efforts, with a score of 93.55 percent in 2023 compared to 90.32 percent in 2021.India received a flawless score of 100 percent in the 2023 evaluation, recognizing its excellent growth across several sub categories: Transparency, Formalities, Institutional Arrangement and Cooperation, and Paperless Trade.
These remarkable scores are a testament to India’s relentless efforts in streamlining trade processes, enhancing transparency, and promoting cooperation among stakeholders through initiatives such as Turant Customs, Single Window Interface for Facilitation of Trade (SWIFT), Pre-Arrival data processing, e- Sanchit, Coordinated Border Management etc.India’s score for the ‘Women in Trade Facilitation’ component has increased significantly from 66.7 percent in 2021 to 77.8 percent in 2023, indicating a commitment to gender inclusivity and the empowerment of women in the trade sector.
India has surpassed all other South Asian countries in terms of performance. According to a research cited by the finance ministry, India’s overall score was higher than that of many industrialized countries, including Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. As shown in the graph below, India’s total score has continued to increase year after year, suggesting a strong commitment to further improving ease of doing business by implementing next-generation trade facilitation initiatives.
The UNESCAP survey covers the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) as well as a set of nearly 60 trade facilitation measures divided into eleven sub-groups: Transparency; Formalities; Institutional arrangement and cooperation; Transit facilitation; Paperless trade; Cross-border paperless trade; Trade facilitation for SMEs; Agricultural trade facilitation; and Women in trade facilitation, Trade facilitation in times of crisis; and Trade finance for trade facilitation. The survey is factual rather than subjective.
A three-step strategy to data gathering and validation is commonly used, with six months of implementation every two years.The poll highlights the effectiveness of trade facilitation initiatives used by Indian Customs, such as Turant Customs, which includes Faceless Customs, Paperless Customs, and Contact Less Customs, in improving India’s ease of doing business and promoting a trade-friendly climate in the country, according to the report.
