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Viewing blog posts on: Trade



Reform of the International System: the momentum is building
posted Friday, June 13, 2008 10:19 AM by Simon Maxwell

The Commonwealth mini-Summit in London is the latest sign that reform of the international system is moving rapidly up the agenda. The Summit discussed reform of the UN, the Bretton Woods Institutions and global environmental governance. On all these, there is enthusiasm among Heads of Government for faster and better coordinated change... (more)

798 Views,  2 Comments


The African Economic Partnership Agreements – what the details reveal
posted Tuesday, April 08, 2008 9:59 AM by Chris Stevens

We have been busy working with the European Centre for Development Policy Management to analyse all the African interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).Our new report on the subject has been described as 'encyclopaedic' – another way of saying 'mind bogglingly complex'. If so, it reflects the character of the EPAs themselves. Absorbing all the detail, and identifying priorities for further in-depth country- and issue-specific work, will take time, but we have pinpointed some general themes... (more)

2721 Views,  4 Comments


EPAs: Distinguishing what we know from what we don’t know
posted Friday, November 30, 2007 5:56 PM by Chris Stevens

We always knew that the final few days before the EU’s self-imposed deadlines for initialling Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) texts to forestall the application of generalised system of preferences (GSP) tariffs on 1 January would be frenetic. And so it has proved to be... (more)

6608 Views,  2 Comments


Spin or reality? The state of play on EPAs
posted Wednesday, November 28, 2007 4:33 PM by Mareike Meyn

Is the breakthrough in the negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) being claimed by the Commission an example of spin or has the chasm that existed only a couple of weeks ago really been bridged? Mandelson labelled the initialling of an.. (more)

2955 Views,  0 Comments


Growth in Africa: can it be sustained?
posted Thursday, November 08, 2007 2:21 PM by Dirk Willem te Velde

African economies are booming. This was a key message from a recent meeting organized by the City of London Corporation in collaboration with Rwanda and Tanzania, and DFID, Africa Matters and Africa Practice. Developed countries are looking at Africa once again, but it is different this time, it was suggested. .. (more)

2670 Views,  0 Comments


New Latin American trade and poverty programme launches today
posted Monday, October 08, 2007 2:06 PM by Enrique Mendizabal

A couple of years ago, when the Free Trade Agreement between the US and Peru was still being negotiated, a friend who had worked in the Peruvian Ministry of Trade and had been involved in the negotiations told me that studies about the effects of the agreement on poverty had been commissioned but not been made public. Why? Because they could have been used against them by civil society groups opposing the FTA, he said. .. (more)

2039 Views,  1 Comments


Globalisation and Global Poverty Policy Group Report
posted Saturday, July 21, 2007 3:39 PM by Simon Maxwell

The Conservative Party’s Globalisation and Global Poverty Policy Group reported today.  At nearly 500 pages long, the report is a substantial contribution: there are 76 recommendations.  Without being party political, we are going to use the.. (more)

3367 Views,  5 Comments


De Rato's summer to-do list
posted Sunday, July 15, 2007 2:45 PM by Lauren Phillips

Just weeks after the leadership debacle at the World Bank seemed to have finally faded from front page news, the uncertainty spread across H Street to the Bank’s sister institution, the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the IMF, announced his intention to resign from his post much earlier than expected. .. (more)

1723 Views,  0 Comments


How do we mainstream pro-poor tourism?
posted Monday, June 25, 2007 6:23 PM by Jon Mitchell

Mainstreaming pro-poor tourism is a bold aim, and the subject of a recent event, organised by the ODI Tourism Programme on Friday 15 June. This aimed to find new and better ways to assess the current reality and future potential for tourism to benefit the poor in developing countries and to change reality through influencing the operating practices of the mainstream tourist industry as a sharper force for good... (more)

2879 Views,  6 Comments


Is Tony Blair’s legacy on Africa at risk?
posted Tuesday, May 08, 2007 2:20 PM by Simon Maxwell

With the trade talks failing and aid volume way below target, is Tony Blair's legacy on Africa at risk?  The G8 meeting in Heiligendamm, Germany, in June, provides a last opportunity to persuade the most powerful leaders in the world to deliver on.. (more)

4895 Views,  5 Comments


Davos 2007
posted Monday, January 29, 2007 10:36 AM by Simon Maxwell

The business agenda dominated at Davos this year, with fewer NGOs invited, hardly any Africans, and fewer sessions with ostensible development content.  On the other hand, our ‘What’s Next’ theme at ODI reminds us that the business agenda is actually.. (more)

2555 Views,  0 Comments


The global development agenda in 2007
posted Friday, December 22, 2006 12:55 PM by Simon Maxwell

(This piece was first published in www.openDemocracy.net) 2007 will be a difficult year in international development, for five reasons. First, there will be many reminders that poverty remains ubiquitous, that conflict destroys lives and livelihoods,.. (more)

3982 Views,  4 Comments


The role of politics in investment climate: Some thoughts from the Bolivian experience
posted Wednesday, July 19, 2006 12:40 PM by Massimiliano Cali

It was quite surprising to read in yesterday's Financial Times that the Bolivian government is set to approve a US$ 2.3bn bid by two Indian companies (Jindal Steel and Power of India) to extract of one of the world's largest untapped iron ore deposits... (more)

2102 Views,  0 Comments


IMF Reform: Tinkering at the Margins
posted Wednesday, June 07, 2006 11:52 PM by Lauren Phillips

Anne Kruger’s comments in yesterday’s Financial Times article (“IMF to give more weight to Asian vote”) disingenuously makes it sound as if there is still some scope of negotiation on IMF governance reform.  In fact, behind closed doors, both the.. (more)

2617 Views,  1 Comments


Pricing in Politics? What recent financial market losses signal about political risk in emerging market economies
posted Tuesday, May 23, 2006 3:31 PM by Lauren Phillips

Yesterday global financial markets faced their worst sell of since the Russian default and Asian crisis of 1997-98.   The Brazilian and Mexican stock markets – two of the largest in the developing world – closed massively down, as did those.. (more)

2309 Views,  0 Comments


Like hydrogen without oxygen? Politics, Economics and Society in Chavez's 21st Century Socialism
posted Tuesday, May 16, 2006 1:03 PM by Lauren Phillips

President Hugo Chavez opened last night's Canning House speech by saying that making economic policy without consideration for social goals is like having hydrogen without oxygen - in other words, having only half of the ingredients necessary.. (more)

2536 Views,  3 Comments


At what price gas? Bolivian energy policy and nationalism
posted Tuesday, May 09, 2006 1:58 PM by Lauren Phillips

What are the implications of Bolivia’s recent decision to nationalise its energy sector?  To answer the question, several levels of analysis have to be completed:  international, regional and national. At the international level, the largest.. (more)

2898 Views,  5 Comments


Notes from Davos 2006
posted Tuesday, January 31, 2006 11:01 AM by Simon Maxwell

1. This year's Davos gathering, the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, was designed to focus more on business and less on 'development', thus fewer sessions on Africa and few African representatives - but ironically the business agenda threw.. (more)

4120 Views,  0 Comments


Is the WTO too complicated? Or not complicated enough?
posted Wednesday, January 11, 2006 11:02 AM by Simon Maxwell

The WTO is certainly complicated, and not just because of the profusion of acronyms and the arcane detail of trade policy. The real complexity lies in the way many different issues are brought to the table, with the idea that losses in one area may be.. (more)

3732 Views,  4 Comments


Debunking myths around the WTO
posted Thursday, December 08, 2005 3:58 PM by Dirk Willem te Velde

With the 6th WTO ministerial at Hong-Kong less than a week away, there are a surprising number of trade-related ‘myths’ still in circulation. Journalists and researchers got together at a media roundtable held at ODI yesterday (7th December) to talk about.. (more)

2951 Views,  0 Comments


UN Summit: Getting the structures right and securing effective collective action
posted Wednesday, September 07, 2005 2:57 PM by Simon Maxwell

There are two big agendas at the UN MDG Summit in mid-September. One matters and one does not. Keeping this thought in mind helps greatly in sorting through the Bolton amendments and in helping to focus debate during the last days before the meeting... (more)

2475 Views,  0 Comments


No New Plums on Africa at the G8, but a Rich Pudding Nonetheless
posted Monday, July 11, 2005 10:09 AM by Simon Maxwell

No last-minute plums were pulled out of the pudding for the G8 communiqué on Africa, but the summit was still a success. The major commitments were announced well in advance. They included doubling aid, writing off debt, and moving to lift agricultural.. (more)

2475 Views,  1 Comments


Trade Injustice for whom? Not really for Africa!
posted Monday, July 04, 2005 4:04 PM by John Roberts

We are told repeatedly that unjust international trade rules for developing countries, particularly in Africa prevent them from growing out of poverty.  Listen to Gordon Brown’s UNICEF lecture on 29th June: Unfair trade rules not only.. (more)

5848 Views,  8 Comments


The G8 and Japan’s aid to Africa: A Turning Point?
posted Thursday, June 30, 2005 5:21 PM by Julius Court

The G8 and Japan’s aid to Africa: A Turning Point? Despite being the world’s "number 2" aid donor, Japan often seems misunderstood and marginalized. But it is approaching a turning point in its aid policy towards Africa. After years of drift, Japan.. (more)

2208 Views,  0 Comments


Downside for Africa in cutting the EU sugar price?
posted Tuesday, June 21, 2005 10:54 AM by Ian Gillson

The power of the sugar lobby never ceases to amaze me. It now seems that once proponents of radical reform to the EU’s Sugar Regime are backtracking. Sugar beet is grown in all EU Member States except Luxembourg, Estonia, Cyprus and Malta. The Sugar.. (more)

4389 Views,  7 Comments