Ongoing WTO Negotiations and Bangladesh’s Interests: Insights from CPD’s October 2002 Tracking Mission to Geneva

The paper is based on the participation of CPD delegation in Geneva and gives an insight into the particular issue of priority interest to Bangladesh in the context of the ongoing negotiations including GATS, AoA, TRIPS and Market Access.The paper provides an understanding about the important implications of the ongoing Doha Development Round negotiations for Bangladesh and other least developed countries (LDCs) both in terms of accessing the opportunities emanating from the evolving global trading system, and also from the perspective of addressing the attendant challenges.WTO-General Council, Tracking Mission, Geneva, Bangladesh

Political Institutions and Greenhouse Gas Controls

Research and insights taken from the field of political economy suggest that institutions limit the extent to which efficient policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are likely to be adopted. High transaction costs among nations, as well as domestic constraints like voter xenophobia and distrust of markets in the U.S. and ineffective legal and economic institutions in China, discourage international agreement. The U.S. must focus upon limiting economic harm from adopting poorly designed policies and developing strategies for adaptation or technology-driven geoengineering. Most importantly, the lessons of political economy must become central to the study of climate policy, including a healthy exchange of views between political economists and climate modelers.

Sanctioning North Korea: The Political Economy of Denuclearization and Proliferation

As a small country dependent on foreign trade and investment, North Korea should be highly vulnerable to external economic pressure. In June 2009, following North Korea's second nuclear test, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1874, broadening existing economic sanctions and tightening their enforcement. However, an unintended consequence of the nuclear crisis has been to push North Korea into closer economic relations with China and other trading partners that show little interest in cooperating with international efforts to pressure North Korea, let alone in supporting sanctions. North Korea appears to have rearranged its external economic relations to reduce any impact that traditional sanctions could have. Given the extremely high priority the North Korean regime places on its military capacity, it is unlikely that the pressure the world can bring to bear on North Korea will be sufficient to induce the country to surrender its nuclear weapons. The promise of lifting existing sanctions may provide one incentive for a successor government to reassess the country's military and diplomatic positions, but sanctions alone are unlikely to have a strong effect in the short run. Yet the United States and other countries can still exercise some leverage if they aggressively pursue North Korea's international financial intermediaries as they have done at times in the past.sanctions, North Korea, nuclear weapons

Comparison of Palm Oil Export Determinants between Indonesia and Malaysia

Indonesia's foreign trade, especially export activities, covers various economic sectors. One of them is in the agricultural sector. One of the most important economic sectors is the plantation sub-sector, namely oil palm plantations. Currently, palm oil exports are very important given the increasing volume. The novelty of this research is that it tries to explore further the conditions of Indonesian palm oil exports and the factors or determinants that determine the world's palm oil demand. Research on palm oil exports is for identifying trade patterns between Indonesia and Malaysia from the perspective of the factors that influence it. The results showed that the GDP factor both affected the export volume of Indonesian and Malaysian palm oil, but had a different coefficient or slope sign. This means that there is a substitution relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia, that is, the Malaysian market share switches to the Indonesian market share. The GDP similarity index factor that affects the volume of Malaysian palm oil exports shows a negative sign or slope. This may imply that Malaysian palm oil exports have the potential to increase trade that is inter-industry or different in industry. The relative distance factor only affects the volume of Indonesian palm oil exports. This means that distance or transportation costs play an important role in Indonesian trade, especially Indonesian palm oil exports. The implications of this research are, among others, it is important to increase trade cooperation more intensively. For this reason, Indonesia must be able to control the market share that is the destination for CPO exports by continuing to establish and develop cooperation in the potential agricultural sector, for example oil palm plantations, both in the upstream and downstream industries. In addition, Indonesia must be able to carry out a more productive trade process, and build good infrastructure, so that the trade transaction process becomes more effective and efficient, and provides far greater benefits to its partners.Keywords: International Trade; Palm Oil; Exports

Nigeria and the Brics: Regional Dynamics in Developing Economies' Studies

The debate on foreign economic relations has stressed the expansion and diversification of trade as well as the need for increased inflow in foreign capital. As a distinct area of international relations and development studies, foreign economic relations has increased the prospect for sustained economic growth and development, especially among emerging economies. Indeed, the competition for markets and resources remain the greatest determinants for friends as well as foes. To this end, the study interrogates the complexities of Nigeria’s foreign economic relations with the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economies, whose development models can arguably serve as prototypes for other emerging economies. It adopts the theories of modernization and underdevelopment/dependency (UDT) to situate the dynamics of these relationships within perspective. The study is based on content analysis and review, drawing attention to the forces and factors that drive these relationships. Findings suggest that failure on the part of the traditional international financial institutions (IMF and World Bank) to meet the growing expectations of these developing economies is singularly responsible for regional re-alignments on their part to maximize the gains of globalization. It concludes that a re-evaluation of the policies of the IMF and the World Bank is long overdue, while proposing an introduction of more robust regional economic integration to meet the increasing demands in South-South Cooperation

Saving Multilateralism: Renovating the House of Global Economic Governance for the 21st Century

Last December, the eyes of all those with a stake in international affairs turned to Europe. First they looked to Geneva, for signs that the long-running Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) would get back on track after years of stalemate. Then observers turned to Copenhagen, hoping to see a binding and comprehensive agreement reflecting a commitment on the part of the world’s governments to address the pressing global challenge of climate change. They were to be sorely disappointed. Inscribed on the faces of those struggling to reach agreements was a deep frustration with multilateral processes that were proving incapable of delivery. Instead of agreement, the images playing out on television screens and in newspapers around the world were of fractiousness and division, due in part to the large number of participants and contentiousness of the issues faced; of anger, on the part of all those who felt marginalized by the process; and of concern, from those looking for signs that the world still has the capacity to reach accords when it really matters. The failure of these meetings to produce formal agreements—or even specific paths to reaching agreements in the future—despite the high stakes and the political capital that had been invested in advance left many questioning the ability of the world’s leaders to meet global challenges, shedding a spotlight on the institutions and fora that were established for the purpose of achieving multilateral solutions to the most pressing collective problems of the 21st century. Why did these meetings fail? Many had assumed that the most significant economic crisis since the Great Depression and the overwhelming scientific and circumstantial evidence of damaging changes to our climate would compel world leaders to set aside their differences and reach meaningful agreements. But it did not happen. It is not that the problems are not big enough or urgent enough. The failure to reach agreements can best be seen as part of a long-term trend toward increased complexity in the world that makes it nearly impossible to reach traditional multilateral binding accords, combined with a waning of faith on the part of many countries in multilateralism and multilateral institutions

The ICAO Assembly Resolutions on international aviation and climate change: Historic agreement, breakthrough deal and the Cancun effect

In what the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) heralds as a 'historic agreement' and the European Union (EU) calls a 'breakthrough deal', the recent ICAO Assembly Resolutions A37-18 and 19 mark the end of the Assembly Resolution A36-22 'mutual agreement' stalemate on emissions trading, which represents a significant achievement with respect to aviation and climate change. Although Assembly Resolutions A37-18 and 19 are non-binding, the as yet 'aspirational' goals that they set out demonstrate the collective will of the civil aviation industry and ICAO Member States to work together towards the common objective of limiting and reducing the global impact of aviation noise and emissions. The texts of Assembly Resolutions A37-18 and 19 prompt closer analysis vis-à-vis questions of whether ICAO is (still) the appropriate forum for addressing international aviation emissions and on the legitimacy of its manifesto for continuous leadership. ICAO's general approval for use of market-based mechanisms to establish a viable global framework mechanism for aviation emissions is also noteworthy, particularly in the context of the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), the position of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention), and recent legal challenge against inclusion of aviation in the scheme. This article suggests that on emergence from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)'s 16th Conference of the Parties (COP-16) in Cancun in December 2010, the ICAO Member States and the aviation sector should feel proud that the spirit of cooperation and sense of success they promoted in the wake of the recent ICAO Assembly Resolutions may have contributed to the most recent progress in the global campaign against climate change: the Cancun Agreements. Thus, this article argues it is foreseeable that the latest progress under the UNFCCC process will have a reverse demonstrative effect on future ICAO dialogue and resolution

Sino-Indian Economic Ties since 1988: Progress, Problems, and Prospects for Future Development

This article takes stock of the evolution of bilateral economic ties between China and India since the early 1990s. It analyses the factors that have contributed to the expansion of this important aspect of their relationship, but also highlights the obstacles, in particular the politico-strategic variables, to further expansion of economic ties, including investments. It argues that while both Beijing and New Delhi recognise the importance of trade and investment in their relationship, future growth in bilateral economic ties depends on how the two countries can successfully deal with issues such as trade imbalance, market access, infrastructure, and regulatory environment. But more importantly, Beijing and New Delhi must seriously address each other’s security concerns, including those areas that affect their perceptions of economic security and consequently their policies towards bilateral and regional cooperation