Digital trade integral to East Asia’s recovery and dynamism

For decades, trade hovered confidently over the Asia Pacific region as its vital growth engine. As average tariffs fell from 17 per cent in 1989 to 5.3 per cent in 2018, regional trade multiplied — faster than the rest of the world — along with jobs and incomes. Deepening integration even helped the region to bounce back from shocks as severe as the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the 2008–09 global financial crisis.