Economic research and trade policy analysis
Gender equality and women’s empowerment in the African Continental Free Trade Area: What lessons can be learnt from the SADC?
The Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA Agreement), which has been signed by 54 out of the 55 African countries, seeks to create a single continental market for goods and services and facilitate the free movement of people on the continent thereby enhancing the competitiveness of intra-African trade and boosting intra-African trade. This will generate employment and improve the welfare of mostly young men and women on the continent. However, whilst the AfCFTA Agreement, under Article 3(e), emphasizes that one of the general objectives of the AfCFTA is to promote gender equality, experiences in other African regional economic communities have proven that gender and gender equality have not been adequately mainstreamed in implementing free trade areas, which has resulted in gender inequalities in international trade and commerce. As a result of this, the majority of women have been left marginalized in trade and faced with serious challenges in accessing opportunities created by regional trade agreements.
Nota / Abreviaturas / Descargo de responsabilidad
La Unión Europea sucedió a la Comunidad Europea para los fines de la OMC el 1º de Diciembre de 2009.
Re-globalization to reduce poverty and inequality
This chapter discusses how fragmentation could have a negative impact on growth, poverty and inequality, and how re-globalization could help to ensure that the gains from trade are spread more broadly both between and within economies. Opening up trade in agriculture and services and developing new e-commerce rules could boost growth, reduce poverty and make the global economy more inclusive. The WTO can help to facilitate a more inclusive global trading system by updating trade rules at the multilateral level and by working with other international organizations to ensure more people benefit from world trade.
Re-globalization to promote environmental sustainability
This chapter examines the complex interplay between trade and environmental sustainability. It evaluates the potential risks associated with a fragmented approach to climate change and other environmental challenges, and it explores the benefits of re-globalization – or greater international cooperation – for sustainability in the context of various types of environmental policies and their cross-border effects. The chapter also emphasizes the critical importance of multilateral cooperation in enabling effective environmental protection while fostering equitable global growth.
Acknowledgements
The World Trade Report 2023 was prepared under the general responsibility and guidance of Anabel González, WTO Deputy Director-General, and Ralph Ossa, Director of the Economic Research and Statistics Division. Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chief of Staff Bright Okogu, and Trineesh Biswas from the Office of the Director-General provided valuable advice and guidance. The report was coordinated by Alexander Keck and Victor Stolzenburg.
Executive summary
The multilateral trading system overseen by the World Trade Organization was created just over 75 years ago based on the vision that fostering interdependence among economies would play a crucial role in achieving peace and prosperity. This vision had emerged as a central lesson from three disastrous decades of deglobalization, marked by two world wars, the Great Depression, and political extremism. For three-quarters of a century it has guided policymakers as they laid the foundations for the integrated world we inhabit today.
Introducción
Los nuevos Perfiles comerciales contienen información detallada sobre las corrientes del comercio de mercancías, incluidos los principales productos con que comercia cada economía, una sección más amplia sobre el comercio de servicios comerciales y estadísticas sobre propiedad intelectual. Esta información, que está a disposición de los Miembros de la OMC, los observadores ante la Organización y otras economías determinadas, proviene de múltiples fuentes, como las estadísticas aduaneras, las cuentas nacionales, las estadísticas sobre la balanza de pagos, el comercio de servicios de filiales extranjeras y la propiedad industrial. Los datos se han obtenido de la Secretaría de la OMC y de fuentes externas. Se presentan en un formato normalizado y fácil de visualizar, para su rápida consulta.