HNLU Completes Its First TradeLab Project in Collaboration with United Nations ESCAP and CTIL, New Delhi

Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), Raipur, has successfully completed its inaugural TradeLab Project, marking a significant milestone in the University’s growing engagement with international trade policy and digital governance research. The project was undertaken in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL), New Delhi, reaffirming HNLU’s commitment to producing globally relevant, policy-oriented legal research.

As part of the project, the HNLU research team contributed to two important regional publications:

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• Digital Trade Regulatory Review for South and South-West Asia, 2025
• Regional Digital Trade Integration Index (RDTII) 2.1 Economy Profiles, 2025, covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Türkiye.

The publications form part of the ESCAP–ECA–ECLAC Initiative on Digital Trade Regulatory Integration, led by Witada Anukoonwattaka, Economic Affairs Officer, Trade, Investment and Innovation Division, ESCAP, together with her team. The reports were developed in partnership with CTIL, New Delhi, through the TradeLab Project hosted at HNLU, Raipur.

The initial drafts of the publications were prepared by Ms. Sanjana Ramnath, Ms. Dhruvi Agarwal, and Mr. Garv Arora, with substantive academic contributions from Mr. Satwik Shekhar, Dr. Ankit Awasthi, Mr. Tathagata Choudhury, and Mr. Samarth Nayar. The project exemplifies HNLU’s collaborative research model, integrating faculty mentorship with student-led scholarship to address emerging issues in international trade regulation and digital commerce.

Congratulating the research team, Prof. (Dr.) V. C. Vivekanandan, Vice-Chancellor, HNLU, observed:

“The successful completion of HNLU’s first TradeLab Project with ESCAP and CTIL is a testament to the University’s growing stature as a centre for impactful policy research. Digital trade is rapidly reshaping the global economic landscape, and institutions of higher learning have an important responsibility to contribute rigorous, evidence-based research that informs international policymaking. This achievement reflects the dedication of our students and faculty and reinforces HNLU’s vision of nurturing globally engaged legal scholars capable of addressing contemporary challenges in international economic governance. I congratulate the entire team and look forward to many more meaningful collaborations with leading international organisations.”

The successful completion of this project further strengthens HNLU’s expanding international research collaborations and demonstrates the University’s continued emphasis on interdisciplinary scholarship, capacity building, and meaningful contributions to regional and global policy discourse on trade, technology, and digital regulation.

The publications may be accessed at:

• ESCAP Project Page: https://www.unescap.org/projects/rcdtra
• Digital Trade Regulatory Review for South and South-West Asia, 2025: https://repository.unescap.org/items/6a65fb27-4e31-470d-b2e2-f10537552eb1
• Regional Digital Trade Integration Index (RDTII) 2.1 Economy Profiles, 2025: https://www.unescap.org/projects/rcdtra/economy-profiles