Trade Facilitation Agreement will reduce transaction costs: WTO Chief
The Dollar Business Bureau The Bali Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) will make the movement of goods across borders faster, easier and cheaper. It is estimated that this Agreement will reduce trade costs by up to 15% in developing countries. The above statement was made by World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General (DG) Roberto Azevêdo, at an information sharing session in Kuala Lumpur recently. Thanking Malaysia for agreeing to deposit its instrument of acceptance of the Trade Facilitation Agreement in the coming days, and hoping that Malaysia can help other members ratify the agreement as soon as possible, the DG urged Malaysia, as ASEAN chair, to continue to show leadership in advancing other WTO initiatives this year, including moving the Doha Development ...
Least-developed countries to facilitate markets for products
The Dollar Business Bureau The least-developed countries (LDCs) group at the World Trade Organization (WTO) presented an “elements for discussion” paper aimed at triggering an exchange on how members are responding to the 2013 Decision and, ultimately, identifying ways to facilitate market access for LDC products. The LDCs took the floor at the April 30, 2015, meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Rules of Origin to urge fellow members to move forward on implementing the December 2013 Bali Ministerial Decision on preferential rules of origin for LDCs, said an WTO official release. Members also agreed at the meeting to initiate an “educational exercise” to better understand the impact that national non-preferential rules of origin have on international trade. Speaking for the ...
Lack of trade finance can be a barrier for Afro-Asian nations
The Dollar Business Bureau “Lack of development in the financial sector can be a significant barrier to trade,” says Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO). Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar “Trade Finance in Developing Countries,” the WTO official referred to a recent WTO Secretariat paper that showed trade financing gaps are “the highest in the poorest countries, notably in Africa and Asia”. Up to 80% of global trade is supported by some form of financing or credit insurance. Yet in many countries there is a lack of capacity in the financial sector to support trade, and also a lack of access to the international financial system. Therefore the ability of these countries to use simple instruments ...
MFN does not mean extraordinary access to markets - PAK Commerce Minister
Sai Nikesh | The Dollar Business Not an extraordinary market access, instead, India will likely be granted a Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA), said Pakistan Commerce Minister in a recent announcement. Khurram Dastgir Khan, Commerce Minister, Government of Pakistan, on Saturday stated, “There is an incorrect perception among many that Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India means giving it extraordinary market access, which is actually not correct. That is why we decided to replace this term with NDMA.” However, he said granting NDMA status to India is almost same as MFN status, which it was supposed to give India under its treaty to World Trade Organisation. Referring to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s personal opinion on liberalisation of trade ...
