Trade monitoring

Since 2011, Cambodia’s real GDP growth has been strong, averaging over 7% annually. Construction, manufacturing (mainly garments exports) and, to a lesser extent, tourism-related services, have been the drivers of growth. Economic growth has been inclusive and widespread, resulting in declining inequality and poverty levels. Prudent macroeconomic management has resulted in moderate inflation, a stable exchange rate, relatively low unemployment, and manageable external debt levels. However, the informal nature of a large portion of the Cambodian economy, which is largely based on services followed by agriculture, implies that GDP is significantly underestimated, and that it undermines the effectiveness of government policy.

A perennial policy question is how the multilateral trading system is affected by the rise of preferential trading agreements (PTAs). Is multilateral trade cooperation compromised by burgeoning regionalism? Should we see these different approaches as complementing or competing with each other? Are there synergies, or inevitable conflicts? Building on the analysis of the report so far, this final section examines these questions.

The World Trade Report is a new annual publication produced by the WTO Secretariat. Each year, the WTR will explore trends in world trade and highlight important issues in the world trading system. In addition to monitoring and interpreting trade developments, the Report seeks to deepen public understanding of pressing policy issues. The WTR does not pretend to provide comprehensive answers to complex and many-sided questions subject to continuing debate among governments and their constituencies. Rather, by explaining the origin of issues and offering an analytical framework within which to address them, the WTR aims to contribute to more informed discussion and a better appreciation of the options available to address policy challenges.

Vivimos en un mundo firmemente basado en normas de productos. Es posible enviar un fax a cualquier lugar del mundo porque los aparatos de fax obedecen a un protocolo común. Es posible compartir archivos informáticos porque los ordenadores utilizan modelos normalizados de equipo y programas informáticos. La necesidad de normas de productos no es nueva. Ya en tiempos bíblicos, la falta de un idioma común (normalizado) hizo estragos en la Torre de Babel (Shapiro, 2000). En tiempos más recientes, durante el gran incendio de Baltimore de 1904, los bomberos que acudieron de ciudades vecinas no pudieron luchar contra el fuego de manera eficaz porque sus mangueras no encajaban en las bocas de incendio de Baltimore.

Developing economies recorded a decline in the value of merchandise trade for the second year in a row, with both exports and imports decreasing by 6 per cent in 2016. A surplus in global supply and a decline in prices for oil products continued to have an impact on the export of fuel products, an important sector for many developing economies. However, the decline recorded for merchandise trade was less severe than the -14 per cent recorded in 2015 for exports and -13 per cent recorded for imports. Merchandise exports from least-developed countries (LDCs) decreased by 6 per cent in 2016, resulting in a slight decline in their share of world merchandise exports, which now stands at 0.94 per cent.

Au cours de la période à l’examen (2015-2018), l’économie canadienne a été caractérisée par une croissance modérée du PIB, une inflation faible, un ratio de la dette du gouvernement fédéral au PIB relativement stable, un déficit du compte courant en baisse et une dépréciation du taux de change réel.

En 2015, l’OMC a célébré son 20e anniversaire avec une série d’événements – lancements de publications, expositions et autres activités spéciales – destinés à rappeler aux Membres de l’OMC et au public ce que l’OMC a réalisé au cours des 20 dernières années.