Trade monitoring
Report by the WTO Secretariat
Rich in natural resources, Norway has been running a surplus in merchandise trade for more than 20 years. With sizeable exports of crude oil and natural gas, the surplus on the current account exceeded 10% every year during 2007-11. Norway saves a good portion of its oil and gas wealth in the Government Pension Fund – Global, invested entirely in assets abroad. At the end of March 2012, the Fund’s assets were valued at NKr 3.5 trillion (€460 billion). The central government budget has been in surplus every year since 1995.
Report by the United Arab Emirates
Successive developments in the economy of the United Arab Emirates, and the adoption of free market policies and regulations, have led to impressive growth rates and a trend towards sustainable and diversified development.
Trade, debt and finance
In 2011, the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance contributed towards addressing some of the structural gaps in the trade finance markets. In particular, the G20 Summit in Seoul requested the WTO to ‘assess and monitor’ the effectiveness of programmes operated by multilateral development banks to facilitate the provision of trade finance to low-income countries. The work undertaken by the WTO in the area of trade finance has benefited from the positive interaction between WTO members and the Expert Group on Trade Finance convened by the Director-General.
Definitions and methodology
Two systems of recording merchandise exports and imports are in common use. They are referred to as general trade and special trade and differ mainly in the way warehoused and re-exported goods are treated. General trade figures are larger than the corresponding special trade figures because the latter exclude certain trade flows, such as goods shipped through bonded warehouses.
Rapports de suivi du commerce
Les rapports de suivi du commerce ont révélé que le nombre de mesures restrictives pour le commerce imposées par les Membres de l’OMC a encore augmenté. Compte tenu des incertitudes persistantes dans l’économie mondiale, les rapports ont souligné que les pays devaient faire preuve de modération en imposant de nouvelles mesures et devaient éliminer davantage de mesures existantes.