| Description: | A good start in Bali
The trade agreement reached in Bali last weekend has provided much needed oxygen to a moribund World Trade Organisation. The WTO, founded in 1995, was fast fading into irrelevance what with countries forging bilateral trade pacts and powerful regional trade agreements, especially in the developed world. In the event, the first ever trade agreement between the 159 member countries of the WTO is a shot in the arm for multilateralism even as it keeps the agenda of the Doha Round alive. have put the world back into the WTO, declared Roberto Azevedo, Director General, and he could not have put it more eloquently. The agreement is designed to simplify customs procedures and lower trade barriers between countries. The International Chamber of Commerce has estimated that the Bali deal will cut trade costs by 10 15 per cent even as it adds an estimated $1 trillion to global trade. How realistic these numbers are will only be proved in the years ahead, but there is littl |
