Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), Raipur, has completed its first TradeLab Project in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and the Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL), New Delhi. The project focused on digital trade regulation and resulted in HNLU’s contribution to two regional publications on digital trade policy and regulatory integration.
The HNLU research team contributed to the Digital Trade Regulatory Review for South and South-West Asia, 2025 and the Regional Digital Trade Integration Index (RDTII) 2.1 Economy Profiles, 2025, which covers 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, UN ESCAP. The reports were prepared in collaboration with CTIL, New Delhi, through the TradeLab Project hosted at HNLU.
The initial drafts of the publications were prepared by Sanjana Ramnath, Dhruvi Agarwal, and Garv Arora, with academic contributions from Satwik Shekhar, Dr. Ankit Awasthi, Tathagata Choudhury, and Samarth Nayar. The project brought together faculty mentorship and student-led research on issues relating to international trade regulation and digital commerce.
Congratulating the research team, Vice-Chancellor Prof. (Dr.) V. C. Vivekanandan said that the successful completion of HNLU’s first TradeLab Project with ESCAP and CTIL reflects the university’s growing engagement in policy-oriented legal research. He stated that digital trade is increasingly shaping the global economy and that higher educational institutions have an important role in producing evidence-based research to support international policymaking. He also commended the students and faculty involved in the project and expressed hope for further collaborations with international organisations.
The university stated that the completion of the project strengthens HNLU’s international research collaborations and reflects its continued focus on interdisciplinary scholarship and policy research relating to trade, technology, and digital regulation.
