The World Trade Organization (WTO) in September revised down its projections for global trade growth to 2.5% from its original forecast of 3.7%. Economic growth is weakening in developing countries as a result of the slowdown of the large export markets of Europe and the United States. Meanwhile, Japan is looking for a path back to the economic growth that existed in the past. As we now live in a connected and globalized interdependent economic world, and no country or region is immune from a global financial crisis, actions taken in one country or region have direct implications on all other countries or regions. How we collectively craft global trade or economic policies in the future must be governed against this backdrop. In the November issue of the RIETI Report, we present our BBL Seminar "Trade in the Current Economic Crisis," with guest speaker Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director-General, WTO.
Mr. Lamy looks at some of the challenges facing global governance, including the rising weight of influence of emerging economies that has shifted the balance of power and the danger of protectionist policies in Asia's export markets. Mr. Lamy also discusses how to address such problems including deriving a system based on different levels of importance for the obstacles, such as tariff and non-tariff barriers and export restrictions, that need to be overcome.
This month's featured article
Trade in the Current Economic Crisis
Pascal LAMY Director-General, the World Trade Organization
We are only one day away from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Tokyo, and we are still currently experiencing an economic crisis. We are also aware that it will take an unknown number of years before returning to a pre-crisis growth pattern. This issue adds to the economic transformation challenges which existed prior to the crisis. Previous theories and assumptions which governed the way in which we looked at trade at the beginning of the 20th century now probably need to be recalibrated in order to adjust to the new realities of trade. Research institutes such as RIETI are crucial in helping us all to understand the new patterns of trade in the world.
To read the full text
http://www.rieti.go.jp/en/events/bbl/12101201.html
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