Trade Forum

G(irls)20 summit convenes in Mexico ahead of G20 In early June, leaders of the G20 nations met in Los Cabos, Mexico, to discuss the current state and future direction of the global economy. Timed to coincide with the G20 summit, the G(irls)20 summit — set up by an international consortium of...

The last time International Trade Forum focused on women in trade was autumn 2008. That issue garnered an unprecedented response from our readers, becoming our most widely circulated edition yet. It still graces the shelves of many policymakers and leaders in the development community. It was...

New Publications To order online visit www.intracen.org/about/e-shop Public-Private Collaboration for Export SuccessCase studies from Barbados, Ghana, India, Thailand and Malaysia This guide is a showcase of successful public-private dialogue in developing countries. It demonstrates...

The experiences of countries around the world demonstrate that sound trade policies and public-private dialogue are essential to successful exporting. In Pakistan, sustainable trade expansion is hampered by a lack of training to build a cohort of well-informed policymakers and a deficit of...

Export opportunities in global markets can spur growth and create jobs, but these opportunities are only sustainable if consideration is given to the environmental and social dimensions of trade development and the relationship between these and competitiveness. From an environmental standpoint,...

OECD Development Centre celebrates 50th anniversary The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) celebrated the 50th anniversary of its Development Centre at a high-level meeting in Paris on 1 March 2012. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría described the creation and...

Despite the current economic crisis, there is growing evidence that trade continues to be one of the major factors enabling economic and social development. Trade-related technical assistance (TRTA) is thus as relevant as ever. However, the providers of TRTA – including ITC – are expected to...

The coffee value chain, in general terms, runs along a South-North axis, extending from grower to trader to roaster to retailer to consumer. But there is one distinctly South-South aspect to the industry: the trade in coffee processing equipment. Founded 61 years ago in the state of São Paulo,...

INTRODUCTION It has taken several centuries for laws to change in ways that support women’s equal right to lead countries and corporations – to the benefit of the global economy. The positive correlation between gender equality and the level of competitiveness, GDP per ...

Measuring the impact of Aid for Trade (A4T) development programmes, and analysing how they might have been implemented differently to achieve better results, is fundamental. High-quality monitoring and evaluation (M&E) provides insights that can lead to programme enhancements or to more...

While certain proponents of global free trade may disagree, regional trade blocs offer a compelling model for economic development. By removing barriers to trade within a region – harmonizing regulation to enable the free flow of goods, services and labour – businesses are able to operate more...

In the 1960s and 1970s, the informal economy was widely expected to shrink with economic growth. Yet in spite of strong global growth and a massive increase in international trade, informal activity appears all the more pervasive. It is now estimated that an average 60% of employment in developing...