Transforming trade for Human Development in Asia and the Pacific

International trade has been the engine of growth for many countries of Asia and the Pacific. The ‘economic miracle’ of the East Asian ‘tigers’ is due in large part to their ability to export to global markets and to develop production at a scale, and with the technology, that allows for higher returns. Poverty has broadly declined in the region, and hundreds of millions of people have experienced significant improvement in the quality of their lives.

The launch of the 2006 Asia-Pacific Human Development Report, Trade on Human Terms, comes at a critical time, with only a few months left before the end-of-year deadline for the completion of the Doha Development Round. We are at the mid-point of the ten-year Brussels Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries, and have less than a decade to achieve the targets of the Millennium Development Goals.