Invitation to a Discussion on the Future of the WTO
Join us for a Discussion on 11 March 2010
THE WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION’S (WTO) 7TH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE:
POST- MORTEM AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
Organised by the Trade Strategy Group
The WTO’s 7th Ministerial Conference, which took place from 30 November to 2 December 2009 in Geneva, confirmed that the role of the WTO as an engine for “growth” through trade liberalization and the various attempts to conclude the Doha Round is on a tenuous road.
After nearly nine years of negotiations, are we witnessing the end of the multilateral trading system as the world knows it? A system that embodies liberalisation, deregulation, privatisation and commodification of social goods and services, permanent tariff reduction on industrial goods and restrictions on access to technology. The consequences for the majority of the world’s poor communities, workers, women, children, and indigenous people have been devastating with increasing unemployment, loss of livelihoods, and social and environment degradation.
Global trade flows have declined under the current economic ‘slow down’ and new forms of non-tariff trade barriers are emerging, such as the imposition of “green” tariffs on goods from emerging economies. The WTO as one of the most powerful multilateral institutions could be on its way to disintegrating, given the proliferation of bilateral agreements and unilateral trade rules imposed by developed countries on their poorer trading partners.
The South African government has recently released its industrial policy and has emphasised strategic policy in trade. Are opportunities emerging for a different developmental paradigm?
Speakers are:
- Xavier Carim, Deputy Director-General, Department of Trade and Industry
- Dot Keet, Political Economy Analyst and Researcher, Trade Strategy Group
- Rudi Dicks, Director, National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NALEDI)
- Michelle Pressend, Coordinator, Trade Strategy Group
Chair: Brendan Vickers, Director, Global Economy and Development, Institute for Global for Dialogue
When: 11 March, 10:30am to 1:00pm
A light lunch will be served |
