In today's economically integrated world, trade matters more for development than ever before. This book addresses the key trade issues relevant to the ongoing multilateral trade negotiations and the evolution of the world trading system. Topics include: a general overview of the Doha Round, potential gains from trade liberalization for developed and developing countries, agriculture, manufacturing trade, services, trade facilitation, TRIPs and the regulatory agenda, regional trade agreements, aid for trade and much more. This is an essential and accessible primer for policymakers,...

International trade in 2009 is projected to contract for the first time since 1982. As a result, export diversifi cation has gained new urgency as one way of using exports to recover lost growth momentum. Moreover, diversifi cation is central to reducing income volatility and sustaining high growth rates, which are especially important for countries with large populations living in poverty. In the 1950s, countries became concerned that their dependence on primary products would lead to steady falls in the purchasing power of primary exports and thus slow growth. A major policy objective of...

In Zimbabwe, trade has been a driver of economic growth, rising incomes, and progressive empowerment of Zimbabweans through rising standards of living and the promise of better jobs. Since 1980, through good years and bad years, increases in exports have been positively associated with increases in national income. Zimbabwe's location and resource base, together with a low-cost but relatively well educated labor force, have endowed it with a naturally high trade ratio built on a diversified base that facilitates using trade as an engine of growth. While trade volumes have rebounded smartly...