Doha Development Agenda PDF Download

In this year's Canadian Development Report, we focus on the subject of the trade negotiations in the wake of the "Doha Development Agenda" that emerged in Qatar. [...] It is the world's poorest countries, most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, that are the least well-served by the current trade rules, and that have the least bargaining power at the WTO negotiating table. [...] So, if a rule-based system is to be fair to the developing countries, struggling to catch up in their capabil- ities with the industrial countries, it must accord different rules-"special and differential treatment" in the parl- ance of trade negotiators-to those with the most catching-up to do, particularly the 40 or so poorest countries (mostly in Africa). [...] During this time, a num- ber of other things must happen if the benefits from increased trade, in the form of greater income security and more sustainable livelihoods for the poor, are to materialize: investing in production capacity, in education, and in infrastructure, and enhancing the institutional and legal framework in the poorest countries. [...] The middle ground, in other words, consists in distinguishing the impor- tance of trade from the policy agenda of trade liberalization; unpackaging the many issues (some not related to trade at all) now being thrust into the trade agenda; prioritizing those of greatest importance to the developing countries, and leaving the rest aside for future decades.