By Natalia Abril Bonilla and Lisa van den Hoven* AMSTERDAM | 12 May 2025 (IDN) — In 2025, it feels like we are in a period of declining optimism. As the recent World Economic Forum Global Risks Report set out, state-based armed conflict, extreme weather events, ‘fake news’ and falling trust – together with deepening […]
Europe the Superpower
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 30 April 2025 (IDN) — The European Union is not going to face a break-up; however, the Ukraine/Russian conflict goes. Big crises come, but they also go. The Euro currency crisis was not dealt with as well as it should have been — austerity was the policy of the […]
How to Avoid Trade Wars – and World War Three
By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK | 29 April 2025 (IDN) — Not a day goes by without a new shock to Americans and our neighbors around the world from the Trump administration. On April 22nd, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its forecasts for global growth in 2025, from 3.3% […]
It Is Time For Asia’s MAGA – A Non-Military Quad Alliance
By Kalinga Seneviratne* BANGKOK | 29 April 2025 (IDN) — The current international tariff saga based on a notion of “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) ideology promoted by President Donald Trump and supported by millions of Americans should, one would hope, trigger Asia’s own MAGA (Make Asia Great Again). The latter is shaping up more the […]
World Trade Is on Track to Hit a Record USD33 Trillion In 2024
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA | 5 December 2024 (IDN) — Global trade is poised to hit an all-time high of nearly $33 trillion in 2024. This marks a growth of 3.3% or $1 trillion increase driven by a 7% rise in trade in services, according to the latest Global Trade Update by UN Trade and […]
Behind a Surge in India-Russia Economic Relations
By Rajoli Siddharth Jayaprakash* NEW DELHI | 16 November 2024 (IDN) — In the past decade, the core drivers of India-Russia relations have begun shifting. The traditionally dominant military-technical partnership has declined, with India buying less Russian weapons, technology and military platforms. The economic pillar stagnated as military dealings slowed, with bilateral trade hovering around […]
Development Agenda Crucial for Nairobi Global Trade Conference
By Dr. Patrick Gomes, ACP Seretary-General | IDN-InDepthNews VIewpoint
BRUSSELS (IDN) – The year 2015 has witnessed a number of global events so important to development, namely; the Financing for Development Conference that took place in Addis Ababa from July 13 to16, 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in New York that took place from the September 25 to 27, 2015, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) scheduled to take place in Paris from the November 30 to December 11, 2015 and the World Trade Organization Tenth Ministerial Conference (MC10) scheduled for the December 15 to 18, 2015 in Nairobi Kenya.
This is the first time that a WTO Ministerial Conference will be held on the continent of Africa and in an ACP Country, therefore I have no doubt that we are all equally enthused by this fact. Some reports from Geneva on developments in the negotiations at the WTO might damper our enthusiasm.
Agreement on issues of particular interest to the ACP Group, especially the development aspect, remains elusive. We have learnt of sentiments from some WTO Members that suggest that it is now time to fold the Doha Development Round (DDA) and close shop because of this lack of agreement on the issues under negotiation.
ACP Group Faces Tough Challenges at Global Trade Conference in Nairobi
By Ronald Joshua | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) – The Tenth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), to be held in Kenya’s capital Nairobi from December 15-18 will not only be “a milestone in terms of the future of the organization”, but also a challenge to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States.
ACP Ministers Convene to Adopt Strategy for Global Trade Meet in Kenya
By INPS* | IDN-InDepthNews Report
BRUSSELS (IDN) – African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries’ trade ministers will gather in Brussels on October 19 for a strategic two-day meeting to prepare for the Tenth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from December 15-18.
According to the ACP Secretariat, the meeting would discuss ACP strategy and adopt a Declaration on the WTO ministerial conference in Nairobi. Key issues of concern for the ACP Group include those related to development, agriculture, Non-Agricultural Goods Market Access (NAMA), and appropriate provisions for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small and Vulnerable Economies (SVEs).
Uruguay Pulls Out of ‘Secret’ Talks on Trade in Services
By Roberto Bissio* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
MONTEVIDEO (IDN | SUNS) – Just a week before the deadline for submitting national offers on liberalisation of services sectors under the on-going “secret” talks for a Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez decided on September 7 to abandon the plurilateral negotiations.