May 24 , 2011
Services: The Main Source of Growth in Poor Countries
Services have long been a driver of GDP growth, job creation and poverty reduction in developed countries. However, services are also the main source of growth in lesser developed countries, according to a recent report by World Bank economists Ejaz Ghani and Arti Groverand and Brookings Institution scholar Homi Kharas. The report notes that services presently account for over 75% of the global economy and 45% of developing economies. Service exports from poor countries are expanding much faster than goods exports, especially those services that are information and communication technology-intensive. Further, the report says that developing countries' share of world service exports increased from 14% in 1990 to 21% in 2008. For a copy of the full article, click here: http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/6459
Source: "Service with a smile: A new growth engine for poor countries," May 2011.
G20 Monitoring Report: Protectionist Pressures Increasing
G20 governments have introduced more trade barriers, including export restrictions, in the past six months than in previous periods since the financial crisis began, according to a monitoring report by the WTO, OECD, and UNCTAD. The report, issued on May 24, says that although measures to lower trade barriers are also accelerating, new import restrictive measures taken by G20 economies from October 2010 to April 2011 cover around 0.6% of total G20 imports, an increase from 0.3% over the previous six months. The report also notes that export restrictions are increasing, adding to the cumulative total of world trade affected by new restrictions since the crisis began. Despite the positive forecasts for 2011, the outlook for world trade remains clouded by the recent natural disaster in Japan, sovereign debt problems, rising food and commodity prices, and unrest in major oil exporting countries. For a copy of the report, click here: http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news11_e/igo_24may11_e.htm.
APEC Trade Ministers Statement on Doha Round
In a statement issued at their meeting in Big Sky, Montana on May 19-20, APEC Trade Ministers expressed their "collective deep concern regarding the difficulties confronting the Doha Development Agenda (DDA)." They said that "Our commitment to the success of the DDA compels us to explore urgently with other WTO Members the next steps we can take to sustain and advance the process of reform and liberalization of trade policies, and to ensure the global trading system continues to play its irreplaceable role in promoting growth and development." Further, Ministers extended their commitment to a standstill, through the end of 2013, on new trade-restrictive measures. For a copy of the APEC Trade Ministers statement, click here: http://www.apec.org/en/Meeting-Papers/Ministerial-Statements/Trade/2011_trade/2011_mrt_standalone.aspx