WTO Principles and GATS Framework

The core principle of the WTO aims to reduce information asymmetry in markets and encourage stability in global trade. This principle ensures fair treatment for all member countries, promoting transparency and equality in trade practices.

The WTO uses enforceable commitments to ensure accountability among its members for their trade actions. This means members are required to uphold agreements and face consequences for breaches, promoting compliance and responsibility.

The WTO's annual report provides a comprehensive analysis of global trade trends, policy challenges, and the overall state of the multilateral trading system. It helps understand the current state of trade and identify areas for improvement.

The WTO provides technical assistance and training programs to help developing countries improve their trade capacity and access information about global trade rules. It also offers flexible arrangements for service agreements, and special treatment for developing countries facing trade barriers.

The GATS framework applies the same trade principles originally used for goods to services, including banks, insurance firms, telecommunications, and others seeking to do business internationally.

These barriers in service trade target a country's production, investments, consumption, or research and development activities. This creates obstacles for foreign service providers within a particular market.

There are four models for delivering services under GATS: cross-border trade (remote service), consumption abroad (traveling to receive service), commercial presence (setting up business abroad), and presence of natural persons (individuals working abroad).

The TRIPS agreement sets minimum standards for protecting intellectual property rights (IPRs), including patents, copyrights, and trademarks. It ensures a level of protection for creative works and innovations across participating countries.

The United Nations has five regional economic commissions that work to promote economic and social development in their respective regions.

The US dollar's dominance in global reserves is decreasing due to factors such as diversification by countries, the rise of the Chinese Yuan, and economic sanctions.

UNIDO assesses industries based on their growth potential, impact on poverty reduction, and environmental impact.

UNIDO evaluates industries based on their technological feasibility and policy compatibility within a country.

UNIDO prioritizes government interventions that guide economic activity towards sectors with high economic development potential.

Most Favored Nation principle where countries agree to treat each other's goods and services equally, avoiding trade discrimination.

A trade agreement where participants make concessions only to specific countries they're directly involved with, not extending them to all members automatically.

An agreement that promotes fair trade in government purchases, giving contractors of signatory countries access to non-defense government projects.

Decisions in the WTO are taken by consensus among all members, requiring agreement from every country. They are then ratified by each country's parliament.

A WTO rule that allows developed countries to offer special treatment to developing countries, like favorable trade rules, without extending it to everyone.

A key process in economic development where a country shifts its focus away from agriculture (primary sector) toward more manufacturing and services (secondary and tertiary sectors).

The manufacturing sector helps build wealth by creating goods and tools, supporting further development of industries, and adding value through processing raw materials.

A collaborative strategy for industrial policymaking that involves various groups, including government, businesses, workers, and civil society, to work together effectively.

UNIDO's Strategic Industrial Policy (SIP) approach aims to help countries achieve sustainable economic growth by promoting structural changes in their economies. This involves identifying key sectors for development and creating a strategic plan for their growth.

UNIDO acts as a facilitator, bringing together key public and private stakeholders in a country to initiate an open dialogue about industrial development. This creates a common understanding of the challenges and opportunities.

Drawing on its extensive experience and research, UNIDO provides advice and recommendations to the stakeholders on how to shape their industrial policy plans. This includes guidance on specific policies and strategies.

UNIDO supports the development of skills, knowledge, and administrative and managerial capacity within the country's stakeholders. This ensures they can effectively implement the strategic industrial policy.

The ultimate objective of UNIDO's SIP approach is to guide a country's economy towards sustainable growth by promoting structural change. This means fostering economic development while considering environmental and social impact.

UNIDO prioritizes the specific needs of each country in implementing its SIP approach, focusing on their economic, social, and environmental sustainability

The five UN economic commissions work together towards a unified agenda, fostering economic development in their respective regions. Each commission collaborates with the others to achieve common goals.

The primary reason for establishing the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in the early 1960s was growing concern about the position of developing countries in international trade. Many countries advocated for a conference focused on addressing the challenges and identifying solutions for these nations.

The inaugural UNCTAD conference took place in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1964.

The Group of 77 (G77) is a coalition of developing nations formed in 1964. This group aimed to give developing countries a unified voice to raise their concerns at international conferences like UNCTAD.

UNCTAD broadens its activities to help developing countries integrate into the global trading system. This assistance includes technical support, improving trade efficiency, and restructuring official debt.

Beyond sustainable development, UNCTAD's economic and trade agenda focuses on ending extreme poverty.

There are four main types of regional economic integration: free trade area, customs union, common market, and economic union.

A common market is a type of regional integration where member countries create an economically integrated market. Trade barriers and restrictions on the movement of labor and capital between member nations are lifted, and a common trade policy is established with non-member countries.

The European Union's single market allows for the free flow of goods, services, capital, and people between member states.

The rules governing NAFTA/USMCA ensure fair trade between member countries by requiring a certain percentage of a product's value to be produced within the region. These rules also prevent foreign exporters from simply shipping goods to the NAFTA country with the lowest tariffs.

When a regional trade agreement causes trade to shift from more efficient, non-member countries to less efficient, member countries, leading to higher prices and reduced overall welfare.

These programs are fiscal plans submitted by EU member states that outline their budgetary goals and strategies for the next three years.

Convergence Programs are similar to Stability Programs but apply to EU member states that are not yet using the euro. They lay out plans for monetary policy and other economic measures needed to reach the criteria for joining the Eurozone.

A budgetary target for EU member states that is defined in structural terms, and they must set out yearly plans to achieve this target.

This procedure is triggered when a member state has a budget deficit exceeding 3% of its GDP or fails to reduce its excessive debt at a sufficient pace.

These are the economic criteria that countries seeking to join the EU must meet, ensuring they meet a set of economic and political standards.

The Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme within ASEAN allows members to apply low tariffs (0-5%) on goods originating within the bloc, fostering trade among member countries.