Economic Diplomacy - a vital lifeline
Daily News, May 31, 2008

Today, Economic Diplomacy has become a cogent and compelling driving force for political development of any given nation, be it a developed or developing. The Economic Diplomacy has been broadly defined as promotion of trade and trade related activities, attraction of outward and inward investments i.e. FDIs, FIIs and International Joint Ventures (IJVs), enhancement of tourism, telecommunication and energy and transport networks, exchange of business delegations, facilitation of merges and acquisitions and buy-outs and commercial collaboration between entities and corporate among others. <<More>>

Malawi: Carbon credits could fund development
AllAfrica.com, May 29, 2008

An initiative to improve the health, wealth and environment of Malawians is being driven by a proposal to trade in carbon credits. The concept is to trade carbon credits earned by curbing the effects of climate change through mechanisms established under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, to cover the cost of improving the lives and health of vulnerable communities in the world's poorest continent, which is also the least responsible for producing the greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. <<More>>

Does freer farm trade help poor people?
The Economist, May 29, 2008

The global food crisis has shone a harsh spotlight on the consequences of government meddling in agriculture. The World Bank and others should beware of generalisations about the impact of food prices on the poor and concentrate on the nature of trade reforms. Removing rich-country subsidies on staple goods, the focus of much debate in the Doha round, may be less useful in the fight against poverty than cutting tariffs would be. The food price crisis has not hurt the case for freer farm trade, but it has shown how important it is to get it right. <<More>>

Summary by the Chair of TICAD IV
JCN Newswire, May 30, 2008

The Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), a Summit-level international policy forum dedicated to African development, convened in Yokohama, Japan from 28 to 30 May, 2008, marking the fifteenth anniversary of the TICAD process. TICAD IV brought together 51 African countries, 74 international and regional organizations, private sector, civil society organizations and notable individuals, all of whom contributed greatly to the discussions. Also participating in the Conference were representatives from 34 partner countries, including the G-8 and Asian countries.<<More>>

Revised WTO draft for farm talks will not solve food crisis
Financial Express, May 28, 2008

The revised WTO draft for farm negotiations will not be able to solve the current food crisis, but will rather accentuate it, contrary to the claims made by the director-general, Pascal Lamy. The draft released by the chair of the agriculture negotiating committee, Crawford Falconer on May 19, fell short of addressing the food crisis, both on short-term and long-term basis. Distribution problem is one of the short-term measures that could have been addressed if the draft could have cared to ensure free and fair trade. On the contrary, the draft has attempted to protect the high subsidy and tariff regime in the developed world, not calling for the desirable level of cuts. It doesn't provide for conversion of all the complex and specific tariffs in the developed countries into their ad valorem equivalent, which is necessary for transparency and effecting realistic reduction. Rather the draft has sought to weaken the defence of the developing countries in agriculture in relation to their demand for special products (SPs) and special safeguard mechanism (SSM). <<More>>

Efficient seed supply key to agriculture-led development
Africa Science News, May 27, 2008

Establishing an efficient and sustainable seed supply system is a critical prerequisite for agriculture-led development in Africa since seeds are the single most essential input in crop agriculture, Josephine Okot, CEO Victoria Seeds Ltd said. The African seed industry has a key role to play in integrating Africa’s predominantly agricultural economies into world markets. <<More>>

High oil prices will hurt trade; report says
theglobeandmail.com, May 27, 2008

The rising price of oil is making international trade of heavy cargo prohibitively expensive, and acting as an incentive for importers to find products such as steel closer to home. For heavy products, rising shipping costs are eroding the low-wage advantage of China over North America, say economists Jeff Rubin and Benjamin Tal. If oil prices continue to rise, the soaring cost of global transport will act like a major tariff barrier and lead to a substantial slow down in international trade. <<More>>

The Free-Trade Paradox
The New Yorker, May 26, 2008

All the acrimony in the primary race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has disguised the fact that on most issues they’re not too far apart. That’s especially the case when it comes to free trade, which both Obama and Clinton have lambasted over the past few months. At times, the campaign has looked like a contest over who hates free trade more: Obama has argued that free-trade agreements like NAFTA are bought and paid for by special interests, while Clinton has emphasized the need to “stand up” to countries like China.  <<More>>

Thai official: Japan's plan to export stocked rice to depress rice market
Xinhuanet, May 25, 2008

The Japanese government's plan to export rice from its warehouses will depress rice market mechanisms and set global rice prices into volatile motion, a senior Thai commerce ministry official was quoted by media here as warning on Sunday. Foreign Trade Department director-general Apiradi Tantraporn said Japan had now stored about 1.5 million tons of rice, which it purchased under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations, and had recently negotiated with the Philippines on selling about 200,000 tons of the stored rice, according to Thai News Agency.  <<More>>

WHO adopts global strategy on public health, innovation, intellectual property
WHO News, May 24, 2008

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has adopted a resolution endorsing a global strategy on public health, innovation and intellectual property. The resolution creates an expert working group to develop new and innovative sources of funding to stimulate research and development to address developing country health needs, presenting a breakthrough for public health efforts. Negotiators declared the global strategy as the most important and significant multilateral document in the area of public health and intellectual property since the adoption of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health in 2001. <<More>>

Africa: Access to Information as a Tool for Socio-economic Justice
Allafrica.com, May 22, 2008

The third wave of democratisation in the developing world has created opportunities for development and reconstruction in many nations brought to their knees by past regimes that were oppressive, secretive and undemocratic. This has focused not only on infrastructure and the economy but also on a rethink of the relationship between those in power and those who voted them into power.  <<More>>

Africa: Why Doha Round is More Urgent
Allafrica.com, May 22, 2008

 If we are to meet the collective target we have of concluding the Doha Round by the end of 2008, we have only a few weeks, not months or semesters, in which to establish modalities. This is a tight schedule, but it is still doable. And I firmly believe this is doable within the procedures and principles that guide the work in the World Trade Organisation. There is no choice to be made between substance and timing. Today I believe it is fair to say that we have come a long way in breaching differences on substance. Putting the modalities in place very soon, therefore, is the only way to achieve our end of year target, since it would leave us just enough time for scheduling in Agriculture and NAMA and to wrap up the negotiations in the other areas. <<More>>

More Financial and Technical Cooperation for Africa's Development
Allafrica.com, May 22, 2008

Civil society organisations call upon the membership of the United Nations to encourage the building of development partnerships that increase the volume and maximize the poverty reduction impact of the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA).For the second year in a row, global ODA figures have fallen, and very few countries have met the target of 0.7% of GNP. Most donors have not made the substantial increases in ODA required to meet the Millennium Development Goals and the commitments from the Monterrey consensus. <<More>>