Jordan

The emergence of e-commerce is driving important changes in the ways of conducting international trade. It has become clear that improvements in trade facilitation implementation should be supported by electronic systems. Through a comparative study of a number of reports issued by international organizations – the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Bank – on topics of e-commerce logistics and trade facilitation we examined the status and performance of Jordan Oman and Hong Kong China. Based on this analysis Hong Kong China shows one of the best practices of modern trade facilitation and customs and we found that governmental willingness is influential in expediting trade facilitation provisions. Jordan and Oman recently made trade reforms to improve trade facilitation but they still need to bridge the gap between policy and actual practice in all governmental organizations in terms of trade facilitation and e-commerce as well as build citizens’ capacity. By improving the implementation of trade facilitation measures and increasing e-commerce capacity as Hong Kong China

Many developing and least-developed countries (LDCs) remain on the margins of global trade attract limited foreign or domestic investment and have achieved only very limited success in the diversification of their supply of goods and services. Within the framework of Aid for Trade (AFT) attempts are being made to explore strategies to connect firms in developing countries and LDCs to international value chains. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has defined AFT as projects and programmes that have been identified as trade development priorities in the recipient country’s national development strategies. The AFT Task Force established in 2006 underlined that clear and agreed benchmarks are necessary for the global monitoring of AFT efforts. The following categories of AFT were identified: trade policy and regulations (including trade facilitation); trade development; trade-related infrastructure; building productive capacity; trade-related adjustment; and other trade-related needs. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) developing countries that have participated in international trade – including trade with other emerging economies – make rapid progress in poverty reduction and job creation (UNDP 2013).