Trade organized through global value chains (GVC) is a key engine of growth for countries in the Asia and Pacific region. Global production sharing splits the production process of a good or service into discrete tasks that can be located in countries where factor prices match the factor intensity of the particular task. This has opened up opportunities for countries to specialize in different aspects of the production process and allowed countries with limited technical prowess to participate in the global value chain. As a result, the Asia and Pacific region has gained a significant proportion of world trade in global network exports--in 2011 developing East Asia had 36.9% of parts and components, 35.9% of final assembly, and 36.2% of total network exports. East Asia's prominent role in GVC is due to its relative low wages and favorable business climate.
This training workshop aims to equip policymakers with a solid understanding of global value chains and their implications on economic development and how policy can best facilitate countries in capturing the gains from participating in GVC.