Rise in trade restrictions is concerning: WTO chief
The Dollar Business Bureau WTO chief Roberto Azevêdo speaking at Trade Policy Review Body, 8 December 2014 Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General, World Trade Organisation (WTO), has expressed concerns over increasing trade restrictive measures and has urged members to provide information over trade practices and reduce restrictions to help global trade recover. According to WTO estimates, global trade growth is expected to slowdown to 3.1% (down from previous forecast of 4.7%) in 2014 and recover slightly to 4% 2015. “Against this backdrop, recent trends in trade policy actions of members are a cause for concern,” Azevêdo said. He was referring to the increase in trade restrictions reported in the WTO’s annual report on “Developments in the International Trading Environment”. While introducing ...
APEC 2014: China accedes, USA concedes, India looks on
Bidhu Bhushan Palo | @TheDollarBiz Source - APEC Onlookers are usually rattled when rivals join hands to improve their financial condition because talks on economic partnerships can neither be superficial nor mere diplomacy. And this time, it is Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping who have forgotten their differences to meet by the Yanqi Lake in Beijing to take forward the economic partnership among 21 nations on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Formed 25 years ago in 1989, the influence and the potential of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is huge. In 2010, this group’s total trade stood at around $16.8 trillion ($3 trillion or 18% by China alone), which is more than five times the $3.1 trillion ...
UN urges WTO members to adopt Trade Facilitation Agreement
The Dollar Business Bureau | @TheDollarBiz UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, opening the 2014 WTO Public Forum on 1 October 2014 (Source - WTO) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General, United Nations (UN), has said that multilateral trading system is important for alleviating poverty and has urged countries to conclude the Doha Development Agenda which has Trade Facilitation at its core. Speaking at the WTO 2014 Public Forum on “Why trade matters to everyone”, Ban Ki-moon highlighted the importance of multilateral trading system in the economic growth of a country. He said, “Without trade, my country (South Korea) could not have risen from the rubble of war to become a developed nation. Without trade, China could not have achieved the impressive ...
RTAs cant replace multilateral trading system: WTO chief
The Dollar Business Bureau | @TheDollarBiz Multilateral trading system has strong support across the world, says WTO chief Roberto Azevêdo Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said that while Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) are growing and important for global trade, they cannot replace multilateral trading system. According to the WTO, RTAs have grown significantly in the past two decades; the WTO has been notified of 253 RTAs which suggests an average of 24 RTAs per year. However, growing popularity does not mean that everything is fine with RTAs. Around one-fifth of RTAs are now large trade agreements involving more than two countries and WTO says that around 20% of the disputes now involve a RTA partner. Apart ...
Making 'Proudly Made in India' a reality!
Steven Philip Warner | @TheDollarBiz It’s been more than a decade-and-a-half since India got caught in the Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) hysteria. RTAs (a parallel term used to describe Free Trade Agreements; FTAs), was born out of hope for reciprocity. Years later, we stand to realise that the expectations and imaginations of our many trade negotiators – responsible for 15 RTAs over the years – were skewed towards finding neverland! In the last decade (post which thirteen of the fifteen RTAs were signed), our exports to two dozen-plus RTA partners have increased by just 12.2% year on year – almost equal to the rate at which our exports to non-RTA geographies (11.8%) have grown. A couple of numbers will help make more ...
