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The unit was set up in August 2003 to undertake research and exchange on trade policy issues, particularly WTO-related and from a Southeast Asian perspective. The core team comprises K. Kesavapany (Director, ISEAS), Razeen Sally (LSE), Barry Desker (Director, IDSS), Margaret Liang (MFA), Rossman Ithnain (MTI), Thong Leong Yeng (MTI), Hsu Locknie (NUS), Rahul Sen (ISEAS), Lee Poh Onn (ISEAS), Sakulrat Montreevat (ISEAS), Denis Hew, and Linda Low (ISEAS). Components As a start, the core team has been working closely with the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, Ministry of Trade and Industry, NUS Law Faculty, and the London School of Economics. The Unit is also working on collaboration with like-minded institutions within and outside the region, such as the UN University in Tokyo and the WTO Training Institute in Geneva. Apart from academic and scholarly research, other deliverables include policy papers that form part of ISEAS' Public Outreach Programme. Policy papers published: "Trade Facilitation: The Road Ahead" by Barry Desker and Margaret Liang, published in August 2003 Forthcoming - "Failure at Cancun and the Future of the WTO: Implications for Trade Policy in Southeast Asia" based on seminar given on 26 September 2003 by Razeen Sally and Elizabeth Chelliah Forthcoming - three other policy papers Another component of the Trade Policy Unit is an inaugural Regional Trade Policy/WTO Roundtable as a works-in-progress. Other spin-offs can be anticipated, including public lectures by ISEAS staff or members of the Trade Policy Unit once the base, expertise and confidence have been built up, both as a public education service and as a conduit for dissemination of the Trade Policy Unit's work. |