The SADC region is on track towards meeting the major objective of its trade protocol which is to “achieve a Free Trade Area by 2008, when substantially all trade would be dutyfree.” Implementation of the SADC Trade Protocol and other instruments affecting the economic development of the region has shown remarkable progress in 2003, the SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Prega Ramsamy said in his year-end briefing. The Trade Protocol is the most important legal instrument in the region’s quest for economic integration, and is in its third year of implementation since ratification in January 2000.
Health equity in economic and trade policies
Development and international capital flows
The movement of private capital into developing economies has stalled. Moreover, the flow of private capital is often concentrated, fickle and reversible. Recent research has looked at the potential changes that could be made to the international financial system to influence private investors and lenders and increase the size, regularity and geographical spread of the flow of capital to poor countries. The expansion of private capital flows to developing countries which took place in the early 1990s has not continued. Crises in emerging markets and an increased aversion to risk on the part of investors and bankers have led to developing countries having limited access to sufficient – and sufficiently long-term – flows of private capital. The volatility of these flows to emerging markets has had a grave impact on economic development. This is according to research from the Institute of Development Studies and the University of Oxford’s Queen Elizabeth House.
Time to get serious about debt relief
Debt relief should be financed as it is more efficient than new aid, and because it reduces the burden of managing aid, argues this paper from the UN Economic Commission for Africa. The paper says that debt relief is an important source of finance for African countries but on its own will be woefully insufficient to allow African countries to finance the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and achieve long-term debt sustainability. The paper also examines the rationale for further debt relief and the ways in which debt relief can be financed.
World Social Forum: Revealing the true face of neoliberalism
WSF 2004 Final Statement
"We denounce the unsustainable situation of debt in poor countries of the world, and the coercive use by governments, multinational corporations and international financial institutions. We strongly demand the total and unconditional cancellation and rejection of the illegitimate debts of the Third World. As a preliminary condition for the satisfaction of the fundamental economic, social, cultural and political rights, we also demand the restitution of the longstanding plunder of the Third World. We especially support the struggle of the African peoples and their social movements. Once again we raise our voices against the G8 Summit and the meetings of the IMF and World Bank, who bear the greatest responsibility for the plunder of entire communities. We reject the imposition of regional and bilateral free-trade agreements such as FTAA, NAFTA, CAFTA, AGOA, NEPAD, Euro-Med, AFTA and ASEAN."
Further details: /newsletter/id/30253