The latest edition of the WTO's “Global Trade Outlook and Statistics” foresees a gradual recovery in world merchandise trade volume in 2024 and 2025. This follows a contraction in 2023 driven by the lingering effects of high energy prices and inflation in advanced economies, particularly Europe. So, what does our
Tag: WTO
Dhaka keen to boost bilateral trade with WTO member countries
The Bangladesh delegation, now participating in the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Abu Dhabi, UAE, held bilateral meetings with other member countries, including China, Japan, Germany, Korea and Singapore, to boost trade with them. During these meetings, the Bangladesh delegation, led by State Minister for
Majority of WTO members sign investment deal for dev
More than 120 WTO member states have finalised an agreement that aims to facilitate investment in developing countries by improving transparency and clearing bureaucratic hurdles, the global trade body said Sunday. The Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement, signed by 75 percent of the World Trade Organization's members, would require full
WTO meeting ends without reaching major deals
Negotiators taking part in a World Trade Organization meeting in the United Arab Emirates ended their summit early Saturday after failing to reach agreements on several major initiatives, the latest sign of turmoil within the global body. The WTO delayed its closing ceremony in Abu Dhabi by over a day as
WTO urges countries to lift green trade barriers
The World Trade Organization on Monday urged countries to abolish trade barriers in environmental goods and services in order to help fight climate change. In its annual World Trade Report, the WTO says international commerce should not be pitted against combating the climate crisis. The report comes as global leaders
WTO slashes 2023 global trade forecast as recession looms
The World Trade Organization on Wednesday dramatically lowered its global trade forecast for 2023, as Russia's war in Ukraine and other shocks take their toll on the world economy. Presenting a revision of their annual trade forecast, WTO economists said they expected the volume of global merchandise trade to grow 3.5
WTO finally nets deal curbing fisheries subsidies
Talks aimed at curbing harmful subsidies for fisheries concluded in Geneva in the first multilateral trade agreement the World Trade Organization (WTO) has struck in almost a decade. The body’s Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) was scheduled for June 12–15, but overtime negotiations didn’t conclude until early June 17. It is the
WTO agrees fishing, food and Covid vaccine deals
The World Trade Organization concluded deals Friday on tackling food insecurity, curbing harmful fishing subsidies and temporarily waiving Covid-19 vaccine patents after days of round-the-clock talks. WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the trade ministers' conference had struck an "unprecedented package of deliverables" after the global trade body's 164 members passed the
WTO holds big meeting to tackle vaccines, food shortages
The head of the World Trade Organization predicted a "bumpy and rocky" road as it opened its highest-level meeting in 4-1/2 years on Sunday, with issues like pandemic preparedness, food insecurity and overfishing of the world's seas on the agenda. At a time when some question WTO's relevance, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
The shocking extent of exploitative baby formula milk marketing
The world’s leading health and children specialised organisations have once again sounded the alarm bell about what they classify as “shocking, insidious, exploitative, aggressive, misleading and pervasive” marketing tricks used by the baby formula milk business with the sole aim of increasing, even more, their already high profits. On this, the