In The News

What Can We Expect from a Trade Deal with Japan?

Arjaree Sriratanaban August 26, 2004
The fourth round of negotiations for a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) between Thailand and Japan is set for early September. Amidst debate over similar agreements, Arjaree Sriratanaban, of the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership (JTEP), highlights the benefits Thailand can expect. Sriratanaban says the agreement should increase business opportunities for Thai companies and provide greater...

German Firms Applaud Libya Deal

Aaron Kirchfeld August 13, 2004
Though Germany and Libya already enjoyed “consistently good to very good economic relations,” the door to increased bilateral trade opened wider recently when Tripoli agreed to pay $35 million to the non-American victims of a 1985 Berlin discotheque bombing. Germany has responded by guaranteeing credits for German exports to Libya. The prospect of increased trade has piqued the interest of...

Real Trade Negotiations Still Lie Ahead

Guy de Jonquières August 1, 2004
The Doha round of trade negotiations started in November 2001 and was scheduled to be wrapping up later this year, but a walkout of representatives from developing nations at the WTO’s Cancun meeting last September delayed the process. Many experts feared that another setback would severely damage prospects of future negotiations, but this weekend a deal was reached that marks the end of talks...

Rwanda Savors the Rewards of Coffee Production

Carter Dougherty July 27, 2004
In the mid-1990’s global coffee production skyrocketed, leading to falling prices and the impoverishment of many of the world’s coffee growers. At the same time, however, specialty coffee began capturing a larger share of the American market and created great wealth for growers in countries like Rwanda, where high altitude and rich soil allow for the growth of quality coffee. Beyond fortuitous...

Garment Industry Faces a Global Shake-Up

Guy de Jonquières July 19, 2004
At the end of the year, the global economy will face restructuring in its textile sector as the Multifiber Agreement is abolished. Formalized in 1974, the Multifiber Agreement established a system of production quotes originally designed to safeguard jobs in developed nations from being shipped overseas. The principal aim of the agreement was achieved, but at a cost of 35 lost jobs in the...

Last Chance to Avert Hibernation

Ernesto Zedillo July 13, 2004
Ernesto Zedillo, director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization and former president of Mexico, blames the breakdown of the WTO’s Doha round of trade liberalization talks on flawed perceptions of international trade. Instead of coming to the bargaining table with the mindset that trade liberalization can stimulate wealth creation and promote peace and security, national trade...

The Meat Politics is Made Of

Gamal Nkrumah July 9, 2004
Amid the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan is making headlines in Egypt for another reason: beef exports. Recently the prices of Egyptian meat have been increasing due to a combination of a weak Egyptian pound in relation to the American dollar and the fact that fodder used to feed Egyptian livestock is purchased from the US. Sudanese livestock, however, is cheaper because it is grass-fed...