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Developing Countries and a New Round of WTO NegotiationsThis article summarizes some of the results and findings emerging from an ongoing World Bank a research and capacity-building project that focuses on the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiating agenda from a developing country perspective. Recent research suggests that the potential gains from further multilateral liberalization of trade remain very large. The payoffs associated with attempts to introduce substantive disciplines in the WTO on domestic regulatory regimes are much less certain. This suggests that the focus of current and future negotiations should be primarily on the bread and butter of the multilateral trading system-the progressive liberalization of barriers to trade in goods and services on a nondiscriminatory basis. In addition, priority should be given to ensuring that rules are consistent with the development needs of poorer countries and to helping developing countries implement WTO obligations.
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Regional Integration in South Asia : What Role for Trade Facilitation?The trade performance of countries in
 South Asia over the past two decades has been poor relative
 to other regions. Exports from South Asia have doubled over
 the past 20 years to approximately USD 100 billion. In
 contrast, East Asia's exports grew ten times over the
 same period. The low level of intraregional trade has
 contributed to weak export performance in South Asia. The
 empirical analysis in this paper demonstrates gains to trade
 in the region from reform and capacity building in trade
 facilitation at the regional level. When considering
 intraregional trade, if countries in South Asia raise
 capacity halfway to East Asia's average, trade is
 estimated to rise by USD 2.6 billion. This is approximately
 60 percent of the total intraregional trade in South Asia.
 Countries in the region also have a stake in the success of
 efforts to promote capacity building outside its borders.
 If South Asia and the rest of the world were to raise their
 levels of trade facilitation halfway to the East Asian
 average, the gains to the region would be estimated at USD
 36 billion. Out of those gains, about 87 percent of the
 total would be generated from South Asia's own efforts
 (leaving the rest of the world unchanged). In summary, we
 find that the South Asian region's expansion of trade
 can be substantially advanced with programs of concrete
 action to address barriers to trade facilitation to advance
 regional goals.
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Agricultural Sector Policy Note for Bosnia and Herzegovina : Trade and Integration Policy NotesThe agricultural season in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) begins earlier than in most European countries, shipping costs are relatively low, and land and labor prices are more favorable than in other southern European countries. As a result, the country's agriculture sector should be well positioned to compete on the export markets. With 20.6 percent of all employed in BH, agriculture remains an important sector for employment, despite a decline in the working-age population in rural areas. Additionally, it will be important for BH to develop well-functioning land institutions, so that the land market can operate more efficiently and thus enable business development. Finally, BH should integrate climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability into agricultural policies, programs, and investments. To succeed in agriculture, producers and governments will have to adapt, and the way to start is to focus on reducing agriculture's vulnerability to current climate variability.