The use of digital solutions, specifically those developed by UN/CEFACT, can improve the sustainability and resilience of supply chains and promote global connectivity. UNECE has provided significant support to facilitate trade and digitize information flows in supply chains for participating states of the UN Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA), particularly Uzbekistan which is currently in the process of joining the WTO. This support has included assisting government agencies and the business community in understanding UN/CEFACT standards for digitalizing multimodal data and document exchange. Additionally, UNECE is aiding Uzbekistan in creating a National Trade Facilitation Roadmap, which will serve as a framework for their trade facilitation reforms and build upon previous cooperation in this area.
This collaboration is part of the implementation of the Roadmap for the digitalization of multimodal data and document exchange along the Trans-Caspian transport corridor, using United Nations legal instruments and standards developed with support from UNECE and adopted by the Presidents of the SPECA participating States at their 2023 Summit.
In response to Uzbekistan’s request for assistance, UNECE organized a national capacity-building seminar on March 29, 2024 in Tashkent to educate participants on the use of UN/CEFACT standards for digitalizing multimodal data and document exchange. This seminar was held in partnership with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Investment, Industry, and Trade of Uzbekistan and brought together representatives from Customs, trade and transport ministries, and the business community. UNECE also hosted a regional SPECA side event on April 4, 2024 in collaboration with the ministries of trade and transport to further address these issues at the Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum.
This cooperation aims to address the fragmented efforts in digitalizing different parts of transport and supply chains along the Trans-Caspian Corridor and in the wider region. These efforts are characterized by different and often unharmonized approaches in different modes of transport (rail, road, inland water, sea, or air), varying regulatory regimes and legislation, and different technological syntaxes. This fragmentation has historically contributed to the inefficiency of the Trans-Caspian trade and transport corridor. The solution is not to provide ready-to-use electronic document equivalents, but to establish common semantic-layer standards, such as those developed by UN/CEFACT.
The exchanges emphasized the importance of using UN standards in the digitalization of multimodal data and document exchange and called for follow-up activities, including increased cooperation among countries and agencies, involvement of international development partners to build technical skills in the region for implementing UN/CEFACT standards, and the finalization and development of pilot implementation projects as requested by SPECA participating States.
During the Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum (1-4 April 2024), UNECE worked with key regulatory agencies in Uzbekistan to support the country in finalizing its Trade Facilitation Roadmap. As part of this process, Uzbekistan has established working groups, including one on the implementation of UN/CEFACT standards for multimodal data and document exchange. The drafting process is expected to conclude this summer, and the government plans to involve their WTO accession negotiation team in validating the Roadmap and using it as a foundation for their sustainable development efforts.
In conjunction with the recently held 11th Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum, UNECE and its subsidiary body UN/CEFACT organized and contributed to a series of events in partnership with key stakeholders including the Government of Azerbaijan, ESCAP, the Asian Development Bank, UNCTAD, and ITC. A key message conveyed during the Forum was the importance of coordinating digitalization efforts and supporting countries in expanding their access to regional and international markets by using UN standards and tools.
According to the fifth United Nations Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation, progress has been observed in the region, with a 5.7% improvement in the UNECE region and 3% in the SPECA sub-region between 2021-2023. While SPECA participating States have shown slow progress in other areas of trade facilitation, they have demonstrated a 7.54% improvement in cross-border paperless trade. The overall implementation rate for countries in the UNECE region is 80%, which is higher than the global average of 68.7%. However, implementation rates vary across the measures captured in the survey, with the highest rates seen in measures included in the WTO TFA.
UN/CEFACT Chair Ms. Sue Probert stressed the importance of UN/CEFACT standards in overcoming fragmentation in digitalization efforts and promoting sustainable, efficient, and transparent supply chains. As the world moves towards sharing data instead of documents, implementing international standards is crucial for ensuring interoperability in information flows.