Development includes several things apart from trade: Nirmala Sitharaman

The Dollar Business Bureau Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Trade, India, has expressed concerns that some countries have started equating only free trade with development. Speaking at The Partnership Summit 2015 in Jaipur, India, in the presence of Roberto Azevedo, Director General, World Trade Organisation (WTO) today, Sitharaman said that while the WTO’s steps against protectionism is praiseworthy, it must be more responsive to the needs of developing and least-developed countries. Sitharaman said that in today’s world, the share of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in global trade stands at around 1% and such countries face challenges in sustaining the growth, creating jobs, and ensuring inclusive development. “Development encompasses other things besides trade including the burden to feed over 32% of India’s poor who live under abject poverty,” she said in a statement adding that this is a concern that WTO recognised. India was one of the few countries which blocked the adoption of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) last year. India had said that it needed an assurance over public stockholding of food grains, and agreed to the TFA implementation after USA’s assurances over food security late last year. Speaking at the Summit today, Sitharaman urged the WTO members to show the same urgency on food stockholding as the TFA under the Bali Package. She also stressed the need to focus on multilateral agreements in ensuring that developing countries and least developed countries increase their share in global trade. The WTO chief said that the Bali Package will help improve integration of developing countries into the world economy, and added that countries such as India will benefit after the TFA is ratified by members. “The TFA will bring down trade costs by 15 per cent and bolster south-south trade,” Azevedo said.    

This article was published on January 16, 2015.