These are followed by Australia, Belgium, South Korea and Singapore at 93 per cent implementation rates.

Brazil and Peru top Latin America and the Caribbean at 91 per cent. Saudi Arabia leads the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at 91 per cent. The average implementation rate in the MENA region is 58 per cent.

In South and East Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia, Uzbekistan leads at 89 per cent, followed by Azerbaijan and Turkey at 80 per cent.

India boasts the highest implementation rate in South Asia at 87 per cent.

Advanced economies generally outperform developing ones in trade digitalisation, reflecting the need for high cooperation levels for full implementation, a release from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said.

The practicalities of implementing cross-border paperless trade underscore the need for collaborative efforts beyond individual countries, building on existing international standards and pilot testing of different mechanisms and solutions, the release said.

Coordinating practices across multiple nations requires a pragmatic approach backed by strong political commitments, emphasising the importance of intergovernmental agreements at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels to ensure progress and collaboration can be sustained over time, it added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)