Trade & Development

The trade & development interface

Countries from the developing world form the vast majority of members in international trade agreements, in particular WTO agreements. How to shape and use those agreements as tools for sustainable development and poverty-reducing economic growth is a major challenge. An international rules-based system that stimulates global trade development and protects smaller players has its values, especially in terms of the protection that arises from a system of standard rules applying to everybody. At the same time, national institutional diversity allows for better and more flexible responses to diverse country circumstances, including different levels of development. How to find the right mix between international agreements and national policy autonomy is a major challenge for all interested in moving towards a more development-friendly international trade and development framework. The Doha Development Agenda clearly asks the international community to find responses on how to increase the “development relevance” of the international trading system for low-income countries. IDEAS Centre tries to contribute to this debate.

In that sense, the Centre actively supports pro-poor WTO initiatives, which are based on the basic principles of free trade. Through the development of agenda-setting initiatives, we hope to exert a positive influence on the evolution of a more development-sensitive international trading system. Our most prominent showcase project in this area is the “West and Central African cotton initiative”, which was launched by four concerned countries from the region in 2003.