Revisiting Literature on Trade Facilitation (TF) in the Context of COVID-19 and South Asia

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected GDP growth, trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), government revenue, level of poverty, and inequality all over the world, including the South Asia region. Since the existing studies confirm the positive role of trade facilitation in increasing GDP growth, trade, welfare, FDI, government revenue, and reducing poverty and inequality, the significance of trade facilitation has intensified manifold in recent times. Against such backdrop, the present study summarizes the literature available on trade facilitation in the context of South Asia and finds that there is still a lack of evidence associating trade facilitation with other economic outcomes, namely FDI, government revenue, value chain connectivity, inequality, and poverty, as evident in the context of other regions and the world. The study further identifies the avenues for future research on trade facilitation in the context of South Asia that have remained unexplored yet. These future studies become more relevant during the time of the pandemic, as they would provide evidence to South Asian countries’ policymakers and governments in the favor of improving trade facilitation measures for reducing the adverse effects of COVID-19 on their economies.