• Developing countries to have greater say in world trade
  Indian Express, Lucknow, December 20, 2006

• ‘Poor must unite to have a say in globalisation’
  Hindustan Times, Lucknow, December 19, 2006

• Grassroot need of the hour: No angrezi, please, we’re Hindi!
  Indian Express, Lucknow, December 19, 2006

• Time to accelerate economic ties
  Business Line, December 16, 2006

• Developing a Closer Economic Cooperation between India
  The World Trade Review, Islamabad, December 16-31, 2006 Issue

• Broad benefits of special economic zones
  Financial Express, India, December 14, 2006

• Pompous prancing about is embarrassing and counter-productive
  Financial Times, London, December 11, 2006

• Suspended WTO talks likely to bring fresh trouble
  Financial Express, India, December 11, 2006

• Technical assistance on trade and regulatory policies
  The Green Cross Optimist, Autumn 2006 Issue

• Positive list to double trade with India
  Dawn, Pakistan, December 07, 2006

• The three WTOs
  Business Line, December 07, 2006

• India wary of Lamy draft to save Doha talks
  Financial Express, India, December 07, 2006

• We need a separate trade department
  Business Standard, December 07, 2006

 In Media Archive...

Developing countries to have greater say in world trade
Indian Express, Lucknow, December 20, 2006 

By Deepak Pandey

“The North world has lost its grip. With growing economic and political power of India and China in the world, the monopoly of a few developed countries has ended.” This was stated by Valter Angell, senior researcher, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs while talking to Newsline on Tuesday. Valter was here to participate in a seminar on “Globalization and India: Voices from the Ground”, organized by two NGOs, NEED (Network of Entrepreneurship & Economic Development) and CUTS-International at Taj Residency.

“No real concessions were given to the developing countries till very recently. The World Trade Organization (WTO) didn’t address the grievances of farmers and labours. Each of their decision was biased and favourable to their countries”, said Valter. “But the scene has changed now. WTO’s 2006 report clearly highlights the role of developing countries in the world trade and much would depend on the next round at WTO.”

He said as the value addition and productivity in agriculture was very low, farmers were selling their land and switching to other businesses. Supporting liberalization, he said gains for consumers were larger than the losses for the producers.

Around 100 people from different NGOs, corporate sector and the media, participated in the two-day seminar that concluded here today. The speakers showed concern over anti-poor policies implemented by the world organizations. “Why are people not included in the debates on the issues that directly affect them”, said Anil Singh, Chief Executive NEED. “Farmers have been deprived of the possibility of trades. Our programmes at the grassroot level have proved to be useful and efficient for bringing about sustainable changes to support national causes”, he added.

Pro-poor projects like Grassroots Reachout & Networking in India on Trade and Economics (GRANITE) and linkages between Trade, Development and Poverty (TDP), implemented by CUTS International, were discussed widely in the seminar and a future roadmap was also drawn. “We need to identify the issues common to all states... our strategies should be more scientific and quantitative and a qualitative analysis is also required”, said Bipul Chaterjee, Director, CUTS.

“Trade policy affects poverty through its effects on economic growth and equitable income distribution. A pro-poor growth policy has greater impact in reducing poverty, than growth, per se”, he added.

This news item can also be viewed at: http://cities.expressindia.com/

TOP

‘Poor must unite to have a say in globalisation’
Hindustan Times, Lucknow, December 19, 2006

AGRICULTURALISTS and representatives of NGOs from India and abroad gathered in the city on Monday to deliberate on pro-poor globalization issues. On how poor can have their say in policy making, Valter Angell, a senior researcher from the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs said that poor can influence policy making fairs said that poor can influence policy making when they are united because individual voice has no meaning. “Voices of poor become even stronger if it’s related to any political party,” he added.

These discussions are a part of the two-day national meet on ‘Globalisation and India Voices from the Ground,’ that began on Sunday. Network of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (NEED) Lucknow in collaboration with CUTS (Consumer Unity & Trust Society), Centre for International Trade, Economics and Environment (CITEE), Jaipur have organised this meet.

Speaking on the occasion, secretary, women and child development, Balwinder Kumar said that the Indian Economy is growing continuously but until this growth percolates to the grassroots, its results will not be visible in the society. “For rapid economic growth, it is important that all government programmes are implemented in the true sense and benefit the target groups,” he stated.

Meanwhile director CUTS CITEE, Bipul Chatterjee said that a pro poor growth policy has a greater impact on reducing poverty than growth per se. He also informed that CUTS programme on ‘Grassroots Reachout and Networking in India on Trade and Economics’ (GRANITE) broadly works towards policy coherence between trade and national development policies to reduce poverty.

TOP

Grassroot need of the hour: No angrezi, please, we’re Hindi!
Indian Express, Lucknow, December 19, 2006

By Tarannum Manjul

"Agar ei seminar hamar waste rahi, toh humka toh babuji kuch bhi boojhat nahin. Sabhi log angrezi mein gitar pitar kari, hum toh bas Hindi hi jaane hain,” said Asma, a chikan craftsperson from Mehmoodabad near Lucknow. Asma was one of the few participants of the national seminar on ‘Globalisation and India: Voices from the ground’, organised by an NGO, Need, but at the end of the day, Asma and many others like her felt that such seminars, which aim at changing their lives, should be in Hindi and not English.

The seminar aimed at sharing experiences in generating awareness on the trade development linkages in different parts of the country and exploring the details of the pro-poor activities. Since Need is actively involved in making self help groups of chikan craftspersons in and around Lucknow, a number of women were also participating in the seminar to share their experiences, at the grassroot level.

But since NEED had invited representatives from other organisations from within the country as well as abroad, including Norway and The Netherlands, the seminar’s proceedings were mainly in English, making it difficult for the craftswomen to understand. And although Asma and other women like her enjoyed the venue, hotel Taj Residency, they felt that for them, coming to the seminar was certainly a waste of time.

“I am sure that inside there, they are talking about us and about our welfare, but then, obviously since we cannot understand a single word, what will we make out?” said another craftsperson Pushpa Devi. Reshma Khatoon, another chikankari craftsperson from Mehmoodabad block, held the same opinion. “We want to know what all these foreigners are talking, because we are sure that they are talking about our welfare,” said Reshma Khatoon.

When contacted by Express Newsline, Anil Singh, the executive director of Network for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (NEED), said that they had to conduct the seminar in English because a large number of people, especially those from other states and the team from Norway, could not understand Hindi. “But we will try to ensure that our workers are briefed about it,” he said.

Meanwhile, talking about the need of the hour to preserve and promote handicrafts, Rashmi Banga, an economist with the UNCTAD India Programme said that it is important to build up competition at the grassroots level, too, for making the market of grassroot products bigger.

Banga said that the Ministry of Commerce is trying hard to include the welfare of the poor in almost all the schemes and policies. She added that even organisations like FICCI and others are trying to promote innovative and contemporary designs for chikan industry.

This article can also be viewed at: http://cities.expressindia.com/

TOP

Time to accelerate economic ties
Business Line, December 16, 2006

By Pradeep S Mehta & Huma Fakhar

A recent action by the Pakistani government to increase the positive list of tradeable products from 773 to 1075 under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) could result in the doubling of formal trade from $1 billion to $2 billion. But this exchange can quadruple if only there is closer economic cooperation and that could set the pace for normalisation of relations.

Whenever one speaks about the peace-promoting economic relations between India and Pakistan, sceptics opine that the relations between the two are marred by the border dispute and cross-border terrorism. Hence, to expect more peaceful relations between the two fast growing economies through trade is a dream. We do not agree.

Until recently, it was not known that to promote peace in West Asia, the US hadadopted a similar scheme. In 1996, US Congress authorised designation of qualifying industrial zones (QIZs) between Israel and Jordan (1999) and Israel and Egypt (2004). The QIZs allow Jordan and Egypt to export to the US duty-free if the products contain a minimum level of inputs from Israel. The purpose of this trade initiative was to support the prosperity and stability in the region by encouraging economic cooperation. It has worked well.

India, Pakistan entering PTAs

Since both India and Pakistan are preparing to or are entering into various preferential trade agreements (PTAs, bilateral as well as regional) with other countries and regions (both with developed and developing countries) it would be sensible to include QIZ-type of arrangement in some of the agreements particularly with the EU, the US and China and even within SAFTA and the proposed ASEAN-India FTA. Such arrangements would help both Indian and Pakistani exporters/importers reap the benefits of free trade as well as promote greater cooperation.

Among other ways to promote economic cooperation is to look at cross-border infrastructure projects, which have opened prospects for economic benefits through cooperation. Regional cooperation projects have the potential to improve the well-being of all parties involved because of the scale of economies they permit, the complementarities between the economies, and the externalities they induce (multiplier effects, attraction of foreign investment, diminution of gaps, etc... ).

The East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC), a 1,500-km highway project crossing six Greater Mekong Sub-region countries in South-East Asia connecting South China Sea to the Indian Ocean, and the Middle-East Regional Cooperation Projects are some good examples.

Regional trading blocs may be an instrument for peace and prosperity. As Keynes observed, "A Free Trade Union, comprising the whole of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, Siberia, Turkey, and (I should hope) the United Kingdom, Egypt and India, might do as much for the peace and prosperity of the world as the League of Nations itself."

Tools for peace, prosperity

Keynes said that trade and commerce have been the most effective way of establishing peace between rival nations. The formation of the European Union most effectively united the Continent that for long was divided and warring. The EU has led to higher levels of economic well-being resulting from enhanced economic cooperation amongst the member states.

History provides ample evidence that no neighbouring countries have ever survived and progressed on prolonged belligerent relations. "History repeats itself" is the saying going around time and again. The famous economist, Mr Wilfred Pareto (1889) wrote, "customs unions and other systems of closer commercial relations (could serve) as means to the improvement of political relations and the maintenance of peace".

Conflict resolution

The Southern African Development Community originated in the 1980s as a coalition opposed to apartheid in South Africa and, more recently, turned to creating a free trade area. Some observers note that African Customs unions and free trade areas are as active in areas such as conflict resolution as in trade liberalisation. Finally, many see relaxed tensions between India and Pakistan as the real payoff of SAFTA (World Bank, Global Economic Prospects, 2005).

Many studies also point out that RTAs that expand trade flows appear to have a substantial dampening impact on conflict. Mansfield and Pevehouse (2000) attempt to identify empirically the role of RTAs in ameliorating conflict. They found that, on an average, the likelihood of the outbreak of a militarised inter-state dispute declines by around 50 per cent if both belong to the same RTA. However, only RTAs that expand trade flows appear to have a substantial impact on conflict.

In Africa, for example, RTAs that address the management of cross-border resource issues (such as water) are more effective in reducing military conflict than other RTAs.

Though both India and Pakistan are moving closer, it is at a snail's pace and constantly encountering hurdles. Some of the above measures could divert attention from sticky matters and accelerate economic cooperation between the two nations by reducing (if not eliminating) tensions and mistrust and bringing peace and tranquility to the region.

Pradeep S Mehta is General of CUTS international, a research, advocacy and networking group board in Jaipur, India and Human Fakhar is partner, Fakhar law international and Market Access Promotion, Lahore, Pakistan

This article can also be viewed at: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/

TOP

Developing a Closer Economic Cooperation between India
The World Trade Review, Islamabad, December 16-31, 2006 Issue

By Pradeep S Mehta & Huma Fakhar

A recent action by the Pakistan government to increase the positive list of tradable products from 773 to 1075 under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) could result in the doubling of formal trade from US$1bn to US$2bn. But, this exchange can quadruple if only there is closer economic cooperation, and that could lead to better peace.

Whenever one speaks about the peace-promoting economic relations between India and Pakistan, skeptics opine that relations between the two are marred by the border dispute and terrorism across borders.

Hence, to expect more peaceful relations between the two fast growing economies through trade is a dream. We do not agree.

Once, one of us had written to the US government to promote mutual trade between the two countries by offering duty free imports if one used the others' inputs in their exportables to the US. The idea was received positively.

Until recently, we did not know that to promote peace in the Middle East, the US had adopted a similar scheme In 1996, the US Congress authorized designation of qualifying industrial zones (QIZs) between Israel and Jordan (1999) and Israel and Egypt (2004).

The QIZs allow Jordan and Egypt to export products to the United States duty-free if the products contain a minimum level of inputs from Israel.

The purpose of this trade initiative has been to support the prosperity and stability in the region by encouraging economic cooperation. It has worked well.

Since both India and Pakistan are currently preparing to or entering into various preferential trade agreements (PTAs, bilateral as well as regional) with other countries and regions (both with developed and developing countries) it would be sensible to include QIZs type of arrangement in some of the agreements particularly with EU, US and China and even within SAFTA and the proposed ASEAN-India FTA.

Such arrangement would help both Indian and Pakistanis exporters/importers to reap benefits of free trade as well as promote greater cooperation.

Among other ways to promote economic cooperation is to look at cross-border infrastructure projects across the globe, which have been able to release limitations on free economic relations and therefore open prospects for economic benefits from cooperation.

Regional cooperation projects have a potential for the improvement of the well being of all parties involved because Of the scale economies they permit, the complementarities between the economies, and the externalities they induce (multiplier effects, attraction of foreign investment, diminution of gaps, etc…).

The East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC), a 1500 Km. long highway project crossing six Greater Mekong Sub-region countries in South-East Asia connecting South China Sea to Indian Ocean and the Middle-East regional cooperation projects are some good examples.

In the same vein, mega-economic projects like the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan and the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline projects would help in promoting trust and regional economic cooperation between India and Pakistan.

Regional trading blocs may be an instrument for peace and prosperity.

As the famous economist J.M. Keynes (1919) observed, “A Free Trade Union, comprising the whole of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, Siberia, Turkey, and (I should hope) the United Kingdom, Egypt and India, might do as much for the peace and prosperity of the world as the League of Nations itself”.

Keynes reminds us that trade and commerce have been the most effective way of establishing peace between rival nations.

History offers great many examples to support this viewpoint. The Second World War witnessed the worst enmity between the Allied forces led by the UK and the US, on the one hand, and the Axis powers, led by Germany, on the other.

The people of Poland, Holland and Russia still shudder with the bitter memories of the Nazi atrocities while relations between France and England could improve after several decades of the War.

The formation of the European Union has given rise to higher levels of economic well being resulting from enhanced economic cooperation amongst the member states. Additionally, it has been instrumental in shrinking of war-generated ill-will in the minds and heart of most people, especially the generation which came of age by the 1970s.

It is hard to believe that Thailand was on the opposite side in the Vietnam war. Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1975, Vietnam and China fought in 1979 and Thailand had a border skirmish with Laos as recently as 1988. Regional co-operation has come a long way since.

History provides ample evidence that no neighboring countries have ever survived and progressed on prolonged belligerent relations. “History repeats itself” is the saying going around for time and again.

The famous economist Wilfred Pareto (1889) wrote, “customs unions and other systems of closer commercial relations (could serve) as means to the improvement of political relations and the maintenance of peace”.

The Southern African Development Community originated in the 1980's as a coalition opposed to apartheid in South Africa and has more recently turned to creating a free trade area.

Some observers note that African customs unions and free trade areas are as active in areas such as conflict resolution as in trade liberalisation.

Finally, many see relaxed tensions between India and Pakistan as the real payoff from the SAFTA agreement, regardless of what happens to trade barriers in the region (World Bank, Global Economic Prospects, 2005).

Many current studies also point out that RTAs that expand trade flows appear to have a substantial dampening impact on conflict. Mansfield and Pevehouse (2000) attempt to identify empirically the role of RTAs in ameliorating conflict.

They found that, on an average, the likelihood of the outbreak of a militarized interstate dispute declines by around 50 percent if both belong to the same RTA.

However, only RTAs that expand trade flows appear to have a substantial impact on conflict. In Africa, for example, RTAs that address the management of cross-border resource issues (such as water) are more effective in reducing military conflict than other RTAs.

Though both India and Pakistan are moving closer, it is at a snail's pace and constantly encountering hurdles.

Some of the above measures could divert attention from sticky matters and accelerate the speed of greater economic cooperation between the two nations through reduction (if not elimination) in tensions and mistrust and bringing in peace and tranquility in this region.

Pradeep S Mehta is General of CUTS international, a research, advocacy and networking group board in Jaipur, India and Human Fakhar is partner, Fakhar law international and Market Access Promotion, Lahore, Pakistan

This article can also be viewed at: http://worldtradereview.com/

TOP

Broad benefits of special economic zones
Financial Express, India, December 14, 2006
 

By Pradeep S Mehta

The commerce and finance ministries, as has been reported extensively in the news media, are currently at loggerheads over the way the current concept of special economic zones (SEZs) is to be handled in India. There is no quarrel on their need; while the finance ministry feels that tax rebates will result in huge losses from direct and indirect taxes, the commerce & industry ministry is arguing that short-term loses will be compensated for by vast overall gains in the long run.

Both ministries are using data to make their respective points. According to an estimate prepared by the finance ministry, the country will have to forego about Rs 100,000 crore, no small sum by any yardstick, on account of SEZ-granted tax rebates by the year 2009-10. While this figure can be challenged, according to an estimate by the commerce ministry, one million new direct jobs will be created on account of SEZs in the next five years. And, depending on the nature of an industry, every new direct job will create five to ten jobs through indirect employment. Imagine the gains generated by this huge increase in the consumer base, and the broader potential impact of SEZs begins to make itself clear.

Another contentious issue is the size of SEZs. Those who usually castigate China are looking towards that country to argue that Indian SEZs will be economically unviable. The argument is that Indian SEZs will be much smaller in size compared to Chinese SEZs, and hence the Chinese success story cannot be replicated here. This is a shallow argument. Politically, to begin with, it is far more difficult in India than China to acquire large tracts of land for such a purpose. This is a straightforward fact of democracy. Secondly, Chinese SEZs are mostly concentrated in a particular region of that country and, indeed, this is a big factor contributing to increasing inequality there. On the other hand, the present policy of the commerce