📅 13 November 2025
Baku, Azerbaijan
ADB and the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Institute are organizing a book project on the topic “Challenging Global Trade Environment and Private Sector Businesses in Asia and the Pacific” as part of ADB’s Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor (ASM) 2025 Thematic Study. To this end, we call for related high quality unpublished papers.
The book will discuss the various trade impacts of elevated geopolitical risks on private sector businesses, especially micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Higher protectionism and trade tensions continue to amplify risks of supply chain disruptions globally with surging trade costs. Uncertainties in the external trade environment will not only weigh on the prospect of trade growth, but could also threaten global economic stability, with significant, negative repercussions for private sector businesses engaged in international trade, particularly in the case of small exporting firms.
Against this background, ADB and CAREC Institute will host a conference on “Challenging Global Trade Environment and Private Sector Businesses in Asia and the Pacific” on 13 November 2025 in Baku, Azerbaijan. This program is also part of the Launch Seminar of the ASM 2025 on 12–13 November 2025. Authors of selected papers will be invited to present their work at the conference. After review, their papers will be considered for publication in the book “Challenging Global Trade Environment and Private Sector Businesses in Asia and the Pacific” (to be published in February 2026).
Call for papers
We invite submissions of unpublished empirical analyses, survey articles, and policy-oriented research on a range of topics related to private sector development (especially, MSME development), impact assessments of geopolitical risks on international trade for MSMEs, investment/financing matters to private sector business or MSMEs, and related policy design, including, but are not limited to, the following:
- Private sector development and inclusive growth
- International trade for MSMEs
- Technology adoption for MSMEs
- Investing and financing MSMEs
- MSME trade policies and assessments
- Institutional arrangements for MSMEs
See full details of the call for papers.
ADB and CAREC Institute will host a conference on “Challenging Global Trade Environment and Private Sector Businesses in Asia and the Pacific” on 13 November 2025 in Baku, Azerbaijan. This program is also part of the Launch Seminar of the ASM 2025 on 12–13 November 2025.
Objectives
The objective of the conference is to promote high-quality, frontier research on private sector development. This will include MSME development issues such as impact assessments of global economic uncertainty on the internationalization of MSMEs. The conference will foster knowledge sharing among social scientists, development practitioners, and policymakers.
Target participants
- Social scientists, researchers, and experts in the field of MSME development and finance;
- Government authorities responsible for MSME development and access to finance;
- Central banks and financial institutions serving MSMEs; and
- Private sector communities, including development practitioners, business associations, and NGOs.
