SINGAPORE, April 2 (Bernama) — Panellists speaking at the ASEAN Roundtable Series on the topic of “Future of ASEAN Trade: Tackling Non-Tariff-Barriers in the New World Trade Order” organised by CIMB ASEAN Research Institute (CARI) concurred that current measures to address NTBs in ASEAN were underdeveloped and stronger political will among ASEAN member states is critically needed to fully address the issue.
Professor Kaewkamol Pitakdumrongkit, deputy head and assistant professor at the Centre for Multilateralism Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University pointed out that NTBs tend to hurt MSMEs more compared to large companies as big firms can better absorb costs incurred by Non-TariffMeasures (NTMs), and thus limiting MSMEs’ participation in transnational production networks.