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 […]

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 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).

Trade: Some Unfinished Work Remains After Bali

By Kanaga Raja* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

GENEVA, (IDN | SUNS) – The ninth session of the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) came to a close on the morning of December 7, after adopting a Ministerial Declaration, the entire Bali package of ten texts, and five other Ministerial decisions.

The conference, which began on December 3 and was scheduled to end on December 6, spilled over into Saturday , when a very small group of countries, citing some concerns, had refused to join the consensus on the draft Bali package at an earlier informal Heads of Delegation (HOD) meeting.

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