Trade Policy Reform in Central and Eastern Europe: Early Experience and Lessons

Abstract

This chapter summarises the experience with trade policy reform (TPR) of four Central and East European economies in transition. We wish to identify what lessons the experience of the early liberalisers can offer to newcomers in trade policy reform. The ‘front runners’ Czechoslovakia (since 1993 divided into the Czech and Slovak Republics), Hungary and Poland already have gained experience which may be instructive for countries like Bulgaria which started their transitional reforms later. The experiences of all these countries with trade liberalisation may offer positive and negative lessons to countries such as the former Soviet republics and Albania.KeywordsForeign TradeTrade PolicyTrade LiberalisationIndustrial PolicyTrade RegimeThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.