A Historic WTO Trade Deal: A Boon For Poorer Nations?

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.