Introduction

Asia and the Pacific continues to be the world’s largest trading region, accounting for almost 40 per cent of the world’s exports and imports. Despite turbulence in the global economy caused by the 2008/09 financial crisis, many countries in the region managed to maintain positive growth. This growth has been the result of many factors, Among others, this has partly been achieved through steps to liberalize trade taken by countries over the last twenty years, which have deepened trade and investment ties within the region, and through the development of transport infrastructure and services, which has connected newly emerging production and consumption centres across a wider range of countries.

Related Subject(s): Transportation and Public Safety