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Launch of Trade Sentinel: An Early Monitoring Mechanism for Trade Policy and Related Changes in South Asia

South Asia is at an early stage of globalization. Average applied tariffs in South Asia were 11.8% in 2022, the highest of any region, against a world average of 8.6% and an East Asia and the Pacific average of 6.1%. Gains from trade have far from being realized. It is the least integrated region in the world, with regional goods trade forming only 5.8% of total trade in 2020, compared with 21.1% for ASEAN and 35.9% for East Asia. Not only is South Asia not integrated with the rest of the world, it is even less integrated with its own neighbourhood. While the rest of the world is getting into more sophisticated forms of cutting trade costs and integrating better with the neighbours, South Asia is still struggling with first generation and basic trade reforms.  

There is no early monitoring mechanism for trade policy changes in South Asian countries. The existing trade databases such as the WTO Trade Reviews, the Global Trade Alert Database, and the temporary trade barriers database by the World Bank only offer infrequent updates and summarized data for a small set of countries. Trade monitoring mechanisms are essential for encouraging South Asian countries to tap into intra-regional trade and to dial down their increasingly protectionist policies. 

The Trade Sentinel (https://www.tradesentinel.org) will fill important gaps in monitoring trade policy actions for South Asian countries. It seeks to provide real time alerts, trends, and analysis of trade investment policy changes. This tool and this topic are more and more important for the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), through the Regional Economic Programme Asia (SOPAS) to contribute to the discussion shaping important developments in international trade. 

Read more about the details in the corresponding outcome document to the launch event.

Shaping the Equiverse: Building Inclusive Urban Spaces for Women in South Asia

The roundtable, ‘Shaping the Equiverse: Building Inclusive Urban Spaces for Women in South Asia’, took place on 6 March 2024 at the India International Centre in New Delhi. It was co-organised by TalentNomics India and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung’s (KAS) Regional Economic Programme Asia (SOPAS). The primary objective of this roundtable is to identify actionable issues hindering women’s equal access to education, work, and well-being in urban spaces.

ISAS-KAS Workshop: The IPEF and the Contours of Economic Security in the Indo-Pacific

On the 1st of March 2024, KAS Japan, in partnership with the Institute of South Asian Studies NUS (ISAS), hosted an engaging workshop building on the insights shared in the recent publication “The Making of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)”.

The workshop brought together a diverse group of experts from the Indo-Pacific region and beyond for an insightful exploration of key topics on economic security in the area. This document summarises the comprehensive discussions and analyses presented during the event, providing a valuable resource for understanding recent developments and gaining nuanced insights into the topic.

MoU Signing Ceremony with Nakasone Peace Institute

On December 6, the Japan office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nakasone Peace Institute (NPI) confirming their cooperation in the field of economic security. 

The MoU was signed by Hon. Hirofumi Nakasone, Vice Chairman / President, NPI, and Ms. Rabea Brauer, Country Representative of Japan, KAS, in the presence of H.E. Clemens von Goetze. Also present from KAS headquarters in Berlin was Dr. Peter Fischer-Bollin, Head of Division Analysis and Consulting. 

At the signing ceremony, NPI and KAS recognized the importance of the economic and security fields in the current international political situation and confirmed their willingness to cooperate closely in these areas in the future. 

LDP-CDU Party Dialogue

From October 30 to November 1, Dr. Carsten Linnemann, Secretary General of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Mr. Philipp Birkenmeier, Federal Deputy Managing Director of the CDU and Head of the Policy and Program Department, visited Japan to exchange views with Japanese parliamentarians and government officials. 

During their visit to Tokyo, they had an opportunity to meet with Hon. Hiroshi Moriyama, Chairperson of the General Council of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), to discuss the role of political parties in the current international situation and cooperation between Japan and Germany. They also exchanged views on a wide range of social policy topics through briefings on social security, demographics, and pension systems. 

In addition, Dr. Linnemann confirmed the need to strengthen Japan-Germany relations in meetings with Hon. Toshiaki Endo, Chairperson of the Japan-Germany Parliamentary Friendship League, Hon. Yasutoshi Nishimura, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Hon. Shintaro Ito, Minister of the Environment, Hon. Kiyoto Tsuji, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Hon. Kenta Izumi, President of the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP). 

Joint Forum “Japan and EU Connecting in the Nexus of Security and Development“

On October 24 and 25, the Japan office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) hosted a forum on “Japan and EU Connecting in the Nexus of Security and Development” with the EU-Japan Advanced Research Network (EJARN). Experts and government and ministry officials from Japan and Europe attended the forum.  

Briefing on Economic Security Facing China

On June 5, the Japan office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) had the honor of welcoming Minister-President of North-Rhine Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, to a Briefing on Economic Security facing China. The program was divided into three expert lectures, followed by a discussion with the delegation of the state cabinet and business leaders. The topics discussed are summarised in the event report.

Responding to the Dynamic Changes in the World of Work in Asia

The panel on “Responding to the Dynamic Changes in the World of Work in Asia” is organized by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung’s Regional Economic Programme Asia (SOPAS). It was held last July 28, 2023, as part of the South East Asia-South Asia-Taiwan (SEASAT) Camp 2023, an annual flagship event organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) since its establishment. The panel in particular, and the SEASAT Camp 2023 in general, is aimed at young people, think tanks, academia, and government policy makers.

Read the event report for more details.

You can find a video recording of the conference below:

Enabling an Equiverse: 4W’s- Equal access to Work, Wealth, Wellbeing and Welfare

In the past decade, nations have rushed to acknowledge the disadvantages women face concerning workplace participation, equal wage, reproductive health, and stigmatised gender roles. Yet, whilst many have acknowledged these contingencies, the policies and courses of action differ vastly from society to society. To the dismay of many activists and scholars, a popular trend in recent years is the erasure of women from the debate. Instead of uplifting women by specifically targeting their social disadvantages through guided dialogue and real-time policy, many have resorted to rendering women invisible through so-called gender-neutral policies.

Due to these developments, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s (KAS) regional economic program SOPAS, in cooperation with TalentNomics India, launched a two-day conference titled “Enabling an Equiverse: 4W’s- Equal access to Work, Wealth, Wellbeing and Welfare” to specifically discuss the issues women face in regard to their work, wealth, wellbeing, and welfare. With the goal of not only nurturing discussions, the conference also aimed to uplift and bring forth inspiration to talented, young women in India and encourage them to become the next generation of women in leadership roles.

Read the event report for more details.

Party Dialogue between the Christian Democratic/ Social Union and the Liberal Democratic Party

On November 16, the Japan Office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, in cooperation with Minoru Kiuchi, Member of the House of Representatives of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) / Secretary-General of the Japan-German Parliamentary Friendship League, held the second party dialogue between the Christian Democratic/Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the LDP in the National Diet of Japan. The topics discussed by the CDU/CSU members of the German Bundestag and the LDP members of the National Diet are summarised in the event report.