Published: 2003
Total Pages: 0
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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.