- Fecha: Lunes 23 de Febrero 2015.
- Hora: 9:30am (GMT+5)
- Lugar: Universidad EAFIT, Bl. 19, 806. Medellin.
Este Observatorio es un espacio de difusión de artículos cortos de análisis y opinión del grupo de estudio sobre temas de comercio, inversión y desarrollo aplicados principalmente a países emergentes y en vía de desarrollo. La perspectiva de análisis es inspirada en la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (UNCTAD). La opinión reflejada en estos artículos no representa necesariamente la posición institucional de la UNCTAD, o de la afiliación de los autores.
Showing posts with label LDCs; subsidies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LDCs; subsidies. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Invitación a lanzamiento: Informe sobre los países menos adelantados 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Desarrollo de los países menos desarrollados basado en crecimiento incluyente, desarrollo sostenible y reducción de la pobreza
Estudiante de Negocios Internacionales, Universidad EAFIT
En las últimas décadas se ha percibido un rápido crecimiento en el desarrollo económico, pero este factor deja de ser alentador cuando hablamos de los países menos desarrollados (LDCs –Less Developed Countries-, por sus siglas en inglés), pues en este caso el proceso se ha dado de forma moderada, sin que sea posible percibir grandes cambios en infraestructura, ingresos, tecnología, reducción de pobreza, entre muchos otros factores que han quedado relegados.
Los acontecimientos coyunturales en el panorama global, en especial aquellos vividos por los países con economías menos desarrolladas, desafían los gobiernos a buscar políticas que sean aplicables en diferentes sectores, pero que sean incluyentes entre sí. Por ejemplo, ubicar la población que pasa a ser laboralmente activa, cada año, en labores que sigan las políticas de productividad del país lo cual lo tiene como fin el logro de un crecimiento económico sostenible. Los países en desarrollo podrían tener como meta mejorar la distribución del ingreso dando fuerza al área rural.
Según la UNCTAD (2013), los LDCs, la falta de políticas incluyentes ha sido una de las causas principales para que el crecimiento económico no sea tan próspero como el de los países que cuentan con economías más tecnificadas, lo que les genera mayor dificultad la implementación de estrategias para disminuir los índices de pobreza, la brecha de la desigualdad social, la no adecuada remuneración en los empleos; volviendo así el trabajo desde la crisis económica y financiera del 2008, un punto de tensión político-social y a la vez un factor clave en los programas políticos para buscar el desarrollo.
Frente a este escenario la UNCTAD (2013) propone que un modelo de desarrollo sostenible para los LDCs, adaptable a cada país, debe tener en cuenta tres elementos principales como base, los cuales son incluyentes entre sí; estos elementos serían entonces: el aumento de inversión (en infraestructura, investigación y capacitación de las personas) para que se mejoren las condiciones de los empleos, que serían el segundo factor y se garantice así el crecimiento económico.
Es importante anotar que es el gobierno quien debe liderar el proceso comenzando con la aplicación de políticas que favorezcan el apalancamiento económico empresarial, la formalización de empresas y la cooperación (por medio de trabajo en equipo y clustering) buscando dinamizar la economía, para que el sector privado se vaya incluyendo paulatinamente en la lucha de estos países por conseguir un desarrollo sostenible. La inclusión del sector privado en esta labor se verá reflejada en la necesidad de innovación en los diferentes productos y servicios de las empresas, dada la necesidad de garantizar una rentabilidad y permanencia en el mercado. La educación también juega un papel central en este marco para poder crear un estrecho vínculo entre la academia y los negocios, donde las personas que se formen en las instituciones salgan con las habilidades de participar en el aumento de la capacidad productiva del país.
El reporte del 2013 que presenta la UNCTAD sobre los LDCs, donde se estudian cada uno de los puntos mencionados anteriormente a detalle, no pretende dar una única solución para estas economías, pues se reconoce en ellas grandes diferencias, tanto geográficas como estructurales, lo que hace evidente la necesidad de que cada país concentre sus esfuerzos en estudiar sus propias particularidades con el objetivo de decidir de forma individual la mejor manera de manejar sus políticas, sin que haya sólo una preocupación por la generación de empleo, sino también por una transformación interna que cuente con la debida modernización de los diferentes procesos de las actividades económicas, y genere mayor productividad para el país.
Referencias:
UNCTAD (2013) The Least Developed Economies Report 2013. Naciones Unidas: Ginebra, Suiza. Disponible en linea en: http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ldc2013_en.pdf
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Saving the multilateral trade system
Opinion article by: Juan Gonzalo Perez* (jperezg@eafit.edu.co)
International Business students at Universidad EAFIT, Medellin, Colombia
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was created during the Uruguay rounds in 1986 and later in 1995 became the World Trade Organization (WTO) and ever since the multilateral trade system has pursued a number of deals aiming to increase liberalization of trade. Its main functions include, administering WTO trade agreements, acting as a forum for trade negotiations, handling trade disputes, monitoring national trade policies, providing technical assistance and training to developing countries and cooperating with other international organizations.
Throughout its history the WTO has had many hitches getting all of the members to agree on the same issues. However, last week during the ninth ministerial conference in Bali, Indonesia, and after a tough week of negotiations they have finally come to a deal that will keep the WTO thriving. The agreement is a step forward towards trade facilitation and it is the first comprehensive agreement since the Doha Round in 2001. However, only a small set of limited measures have been agreed on. The most vital thing is that the WTO will still have a starring role in trade and the package managed to include the interest of least developed counties (LDCs), developing countries as well as developed countries.
The first issue in the agreement was trade facilitation. The agreement will allow member to trade goods more easily, reducing import and export bureaucracy and therefore allow countries to access more markets. It is estimated that the agreement will increase world trade in about 1 trillion dollars.
The second part of the deal reached was agricultural subsidies. This was the most complicated issue due to the fact that LDCs and developing countries stood up to defended their agricultural subsidies. India and the United States stalled in this issue because they were both trying to defend their own interest.
While the United States was concerned that subsidies will distort trade due to production surpluses, developing economies (Including India) were pushing for an ambitious trade facilitation agreement, including adequate safeguards to run their food security programs. LDCs had a four point agenda that included duty and quota free market access, operationalization of the waiver concerning preferential treatment to services and service suppliers of LDCs, preferential rules of origin and establishment of mechanism to monitor special and differential treatment.
Achieving such a deal was not easy and almost impossible due to the fact that in order for the agreement to pass it needed the consensus of the 159 members of the WTO. So when the negotiations were about to fail and with only few hours left to close the ministerial conference in Bali, both countries agreed to allow LDCs and developing countries to continue subsidizing their agricultural industries as long as they don't affect global trade.
In the short term, this agreement will bring the WTO back to play a role in global trade and it is a step forward towards trade liberalization. However, it is going to be long before the institution regains its authority, and if they want to stay relevant they need to do better in topics like investment, agriculture and services.
International Business students at Universidad EAFIT, Medellin, Colombia
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was created during the Uruguay rounds in 1986 and later in 1995 became the World Trade Organization (WTO) and ever since the multilateral trade system has pursued a number of deals aiming to increase liberalization of trade. Its main functions include, administering WTO trade agreements, acting as a forum for trade negotiations, handling trade disputes, monitoring national trade policies, providing technical assistance and training to developing countries and cooperating with other international organizations.
Throughout its history the WTO has had many hitches getting all of the members to agree on the same issues. However, last week during the ninth ministerial conference in Bali, Indonesia, and after a tough week of negotiations they have finally come to a deal that will keep the WTO thriving. The agreement is a step forward towards trade facilitation and it is the first comprehensive agreement since the Doha Round in 2001. However, only a small set of limited measures have been agreed on. The most vital thing is that the WTO will still have a starring role in trade and the package managed to include the interest of least developed counties (LDCs), developing countries as well as developed countries.
The first issue in the agreement was trade facilitation. The agreement will allow member to trade goods more easily, reducing import and export bureaucracy and therefore allow countries to access more markets. It is estimated that the agreement will increase world trade in about 1 trillion dollars.
The second part of the deal reached was agricultural subsidies. This was the most complicated issue due to the fact that LDCs and developing countries stood up to defended their agricultural subsidies. India and the United States stalled in this issue because they were both trying to defend their own interest.
While the United States was concerned that subsidies will distort trade due to production surpluses, developing economies (Including India) were pushing for an ambitious trade facilitation agreement, including adequate safeguards to run their food security programs. LDCs had a four point agenda that included duty and quota free market access, operationalization of the waiver concerning preferential treatment to services and service suppliers of LDCs, preferential rules of origin and establishment of mechanism to monitor special and differential treatment.
Achieving such a deal was not easy and almost impossible due to the fact that in order for the agreement to pass it needed the consensus of the 159 members of the WTO. So when the negotiations were about to fail and with only few hours left to close the ministerial conference in Bali, both countries agreed to allow LDCs and developing countries to continue subsidizing their agricultural industries as long as they don't affect global trade.
In the short term, this agreement will bring the WTO back to play a role in global trade and it is a step forward towards trade liberalization. However, it is going to be long before the institution regains its authority, and if they want to stay relevant they need to do better in topics like investment, agriculture and services.
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