THE Asia-Pacific region plays a prominent role in global production, resource use and employment through the formation of global supply chains. In part, this is the result of multilateral trade pacts, harmonized rules and adopting technological innovations. The main traded goods are from the apparel and footwear, automotive, agro-food, electronics and extractive industries. The global supply chain participation tends to be higher in the 10 economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and East Asia and in 2019 accounted for more than 65 percent of the global supply chain-related intermediate imports in the world.
Widespread deforestation, polluted water resources, degraded agricultural lands, and declining fish stocks are just examples of the consequences of aggressively pursued economic growth by GSC that also generated millions of jobs across the region. Global supply chain-related carbon emissions account for an average of 73 percent of multinational companies' total emissions. This underlines the imperative for circular supply chains that could tackle the negative externalities of free trade.
Continue reading with one of these options:
Ad-free access
P 80 per month
(billed annually at P 960)
- Unlimited ad-free access to website articles
- Limited offer: Subscribe today and get digital edition access for free (accessible with up to 3 devices)