Development and building trade capacity
Importance croissante des pays en développement dans l’économie mondiale
Ces dernières années ont été marquées par le rôle de plus en plus important des économies en développement dans l’économie mondiale. Cette section examine comment en dix ans de nombreux pays sont parvenus à une croissance économique remarquable tout en faisant reculer à grands pas la pauvreté. Certains de ces pays sont devenus d’importants producteurs et exportateurs de produits manufacturés de produits agricoles et de services commerciaux éclipsant parfois les pays industriels. Il s’agit en particulier des grandes économies en développement qui se sont imposées dans des enceintes internationales comme le G-20.
Perspectivas de cooperación comercial multilateral
En la presente sección se examina la pertinencia de las actuales normas comerciales así como la necesidad de nuevos enfoques de la cooperación a nivel comercial a la luz de las fuerzas que están reconfigurando actualmente el comercio internacional. Se señala que será necesario que el sistema multilateral de comercio como lo ha hecho reiteradamente en el pasado se adapte a los acontecimientos que están teniendo lugar en el comercio y en el entorno comercial y se examinan propuestas encaminadas a actualizar el programa y la gobernanza de la OMC. La sección comienza con una breve reseña de los principales acontecimientos comerciales en el contexto socioeconómico más amplio en particular la aparición de las cadenas mundiales de suministro el desplazamiento general del poder comercial de Occidente hacia Asia y otras economías emergentes así como la evolución de la naturaleza la composición y la dirección del comercio. A continuación se destacan algunos de los principales desafíos con que se enfrenta la OMC y la forma en que podrían encararse.
Trade developments in 2012 and early 2013
World trade growth fell to 2.0 per cent in 2012 from 5.2 per cent in 2011 and remained sluggish in the opening months of 2013 as the economic slowdown in Europe suppressed global import demand. The abrupt deceleration of trade in 2012 was mainly attributable to slow growth in developed economies and recurring bouts of uncertainty over the future of the euro. Flagging output and high unemployment in developed countries reduced imports and fed through to a lower pace of export growth in both developed and developing economies. More positive economic developments in the United States in the early months of 2013 were offset by lingering weakness in the European Union as peripheral euro area economies continued to struggle and even core euro area economies increasingly felt the impact of the downturn in the region.
Robust policies for an uncertain world
This report argues that informality in developing countries deprives about 60 per cent of the workers in these countries of proper income and career opportunities. At the same time high informality rates limit government resources which could be used productively and depress the growth of aggregate demand hampering a country’s successful integration into the world economy. This means that successful formalization strategies would not only improve the working conditions of large segments of the labour market in those countries they would also constitute a signifi cant engine of further growth of both the individual country and the world economy. At the same time the study argues that the integration of a country into the world economy – if properly managed – can help informal workers by improving their living standards and giving them access to decent working conditions. Integration into world markets and tackling informal employment should thus be considered complementary as only formal jobs allow a country to benefi t fully from trade openness.
Facteurs économiques fondamentaux affectant le commerce international
La section précédente a montré que l’avenir du commerce et de la croissance économique dépend de plusieurs facteurs. Les prévisions peuvent changer en fonction de l’évolution de chacun de ces facteurs. Cette section examine comment les facteurs économiques fondamentaux qui déterminent l’avenir du commerce international – à savoir la démographie l’investissement la technologie l’énergie et les autres ressources naturelles les coûts de transport et le cadre institutionnel – sont susceptibles d’évoluer dans les années à venir.
Barriers to trade: The case of Kenya
International trade is the exchange of capital goods and services across international borders or territories. Even though the WTO advocates trade opening many WTO members do not liberalize every sector of the economy and instead maintain certain barriers to trade. Many of these barriers take the form of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) i.e. discriminatory non-tariff measures (NTMs) imposed by governments to favour domestic over foreign suppliers (Nicita and Gourdon 2013). Barriers can also take the form of procedural obstacles i.e. obstacles related to the process of application of an NTM rather than the measure itself.
The increasing importance of developing countries in the global economy
One of the most striking features of the global economy in recent years has been the increasingly large role played by developing economies. This section examines how many countries recorded impressive growth in the last decade while making great strides in reducing poverty. Some have become leading producers and exporters of manufactured goods agricultural products and commercial services in some cases eclipsing the industrialized economies. This is especially true of the large developing economies which have taken on more prominent positions in international fora such as the G-20.
The role of international economic law in addressing climate change
Low- and middle-income countries face supply-side constraints such as technical capacities adequate hard infrastructure capacities human capital (above all knowhow) access to adequate credit and access to environmental goods and services that affect their capacity to address climate change and other environmental issues. This chapter discusses how the existing framework of international economic law may constrain the ability of low- or middle-income countries to overcome such supply-side constraints in order to address their or their trading partners’ environmental concerns regarding climate change and be included in global value chains. We will consider what should be done from a legal perspective what might be achieved and the likely implications of international economic law for acquiring and implementing environmentally friendly technologies and financing climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Le commerce électronique en Afrique : défis et possibilités
Le présent chapitre analyse le potentiel que représentent les activités de commerce électronique en Afrique. La croissance rapide de la pénétration d’Internet et de l’utilisation de la téléphonie mobile ainsi que l’adoption d’innovations mobiles qui ont fortement stimulé l’inclusion financière et encouragé le recours au paiement électronique ont établi une base solide pour le développement du commerce électronique sur le continent. En revanche les taux bancaires encore bas la fragilité des lois et réglementations régissant le secteur et le manque d’harmonisation de ces règles entre les pays limitent le commerce électronique africain. La réduction de la cybercriminalité l’augmentation de la participation au secteur financier et le renforcement du cadre juridique sont des mesures essentielles pour promouvoir les activités de commerce électronique.
The impact of digital technologies on developing countries’ trade
Using the World Trade Organization (WTO) Global Trade Model (GTM) a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium model we examine the potential future impact of technological innovations in the form of robotization and use of artificial intelligence (AI) servicification of the production process and falling trade costs due to the rise of online markets and platforms on the trade of developing countries. The simulations show that technological change will boost trade growth as a result of both falling trade costs and the more intensive use of information and communications technology (ICT) services. On average between now and 2030 global trade growth would be 2 percentage points per annum higher as a result of digital technologies. Further developing countries’ trade growth would be 2.5 percentage points per annum higher and the increase in their share of global trade will be more pronounced the faster they are able to catch up technologically. Another finding from the simulations is that services exports will become a bigger part of global trade making up more than a quarter of total trade by 2030 and technological changes tend to increase the share of services imports in manufacturing gross output. Finally these technological developments do not appear to portend a reshoring or localization of production suggesting that future technological change can go in hand in hand with continuing globalization.
Introduction
Globalization is transforming development. This section examines how in its scope and speed the recent rise of the developing world is unprecedented – eclipsing the rise of the newly industrializing countries after the Second World War and dwarfing the earlier rise of Europe and North America in the late 19th century. There are many reasons why the developing world has achieved economic lift-off. One of the most important is its integration into the world economy – and the new access to markets technology and investment that has resulted. This rise of the developing world is one of four recent trends that holds new development opportunities while also bringing new challenges. The same is true for three other trends identified here: the spread of production chains high commodity prices and growing economic interdependence.
Réglementation des données dans les accords commerciaux : différents modèles et options pour l’avenir
«Les données sont le nouveau pétrole». Tout comme le pétrole qui a fait tourner l’économie au cours du siècle dernier les données sont le moteur du monde d’aujourd’hui. Cela est d’autant plus vrai pour le commerce international. Le rôle crucial que jouent les données est perceptible à toutes les étapes du processus de la conception d’un nouveau produit à l’approvisionnement en matières premières et en pièces en passant par le processus de fabrication et le transport des produits au-delà des frontières pour que ceux-ci parviennent aux consommateurs du monde entier.
Nota sobre el Programa de Cátedras OMC
El Programa de Cátedras OMC (PCO) se inició en 2010 como proyecto de creación de capacidad. Su objetivo es ampliar los conocimientos y mejorar la comprensión del sistema de comercio en el mundo académico y entre los encargados de la formulación de políticas de los países en desarrollo mediante actividades de elaboración de programas de estudios investigación y divulgación en universidades e instituciones de investigación. Puede consultase información sobre el PCO en la siguiente dirección: www.wto.org/wcp.
The potential economic impact of Aid for Trade in the MENA region: The case of Jordan
Many developing and least-developed countries (LDCs) remain on the margins of global trade attract limited foreign or domestic investment and have achieved only very limited success in the diversification of their supply of goods and services. Within the framework of Aid for Trade (AFT) attempts are being made to explore strategies to connect firms in developing countries and LDCs to international value chains. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has defined AFT as projects and programmes that have been identified as trade development priorities in the recipient country’s national development strategies. The AFT Task Force established in 2006 underlined that clear and agreed benchmarks are necessary for the global monitoring of AFT efforts. The following categories of AFT were identified: trade policy and regulations (including trade facilitation); trade development; trade-related infrastructure; building productive capacity; trade-related adjustment; and other trade-related needs. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) developing countries that have participated in international trade – including trade with other emerging economies – make rapid progress in poverty reduction and job creation (UNDP 2013).