Global trade collapsed in 2009, on the back of a synchronised and protracted fall in global demand. For the year as a whole, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated that the volume of world trade contracted by 12 per cent, the first decline since records started in 1986. As key exporters to the world, Asian economies were not unscathed. Exports from the NIEs and developing Asia fell by 7.1 per cent and 8.1 per cent in 2009, compared to growth of 3.0 per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively in 2008.

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