Started earlier this week will the historic “new deal”
reached by the WTO served as a boon for poorer nations when it comes to world
trade?
By: Ringo Bones
Critics argue that the “new deal” recently reached by the
World Trade Organization will only benefit big corporations, but surprisingly
most of the proposals on offer set to benefit poorer nations when it comes to
negotiating with the rigmarole of global trade and commerce had been ratified
by 159 signatory countries. It has been 12 years in the making and during the
past few years been set back to the back burner in terms of discussions due to
the 2008 global financial crisis a new deal has nonetheless been reached by the
WTO recently in Bali, Indonesia back in December 7, 2013.
Slated to add 1-trillion US dollars to the world’s overall
GDP, the new WTO trade agreement sets to help the poorest countries trade their
goods more freely by improving customs procedures and help them set farm
subsidies that would benefit struggling local farmers. Even though 1-trillion
US dollars might represent only one-twentieth the overall total of the world’s
overall transactions, the very idea that it sets to help the poorest countries
trade their goods on the global market more freely should be embraced with open
arms. After all, critics had been complaining since the last century that
globalization had done nothing to help the world’s poorest nations out of
poverty through a more fair and inclusive global trading scheme.