International Trade and Finance

Notwithstanding the recent escalation in tariffs for protectionist purposes, there has been an exponential rise in the use of non-tariff measures (NTMs) globally. This has coincided with consumers, especially in the developed world, becoming more conscious of the quality of what they consume and buy. As a result, governments are resorting to using NTMs for their national development goals. According to the Global Trade Alert (GTA), only 15% of the harmful policy instruments since the 2008 global financial crisis were due to policy measures while the rest were related to NTMss.

After spending nearly four years in Morocco looking for opportunities, a young Mamadou Cery Barry returned to his country, Guinea. He opted to pursue beekeeping on his farm in Ditinn, located within the municipality of Mamou in Middle Guinea.

The influx of refugees and migrants presents a continual challenge for societies across the world. Some current policy approaches have at best lacked meaningful impact or at worst contributed to human rights violations.

International trade in goods has experienced comparatively little innovation since Malcom McLean invented the intermodal sea container in the 1950s. Containerization revolutionized transport of goods. It cut freight costs drastically by removing the need for repeated handling of parcels. It did not, however, streamline bureaucratic processes or eliminate paperwork.

During recent times our world has faced significant economic challenges and security risks. When Hungary introduced bold economic policy reforms a few years ago it was subjected to strong criticism from domestic political opposition and various international institutions, as well as from public figures and representatives of foreign governments. The objective of these policy reforms was to make the Hungarian economy resistant to future crises.

At the end of a winding dirt road in the remote Ilam district of Nepal lives Sumit Shrestha, a young entrepreneur likely to inherit his father’s tea farm. With multiple tea producers in the region, the Shrestha farm has differentiated itself from others in the region by becoming the first Nepali tea producers to comply with the Rainforest Alliance sustainability standard.

Ambassador Albert M. Muchanga of Zambia, the African Union’s Commissioner for Trade and Industry, is a driving force behind the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). His watchword is ‘inclusion’ – making sure the new trading arrangement between African nations boost the economic opportunities of poor people, young people and women. Commissioner Muchanga, who gave a keynote address at ITC’s SheTrades Global meeting in Addis Ababa in November, took the time to address the specific area of women’s economic empowerment in Africa and the dawn of the AfCFTA era.

In Nepal, the first tea harvest of the year – the First Flush – takes place in April. International buyers eagerly await this time of year because of the leaves’ fresh and fruity flavours.

It was the National Geographic’s Wild channel that first brought the world close to the lion kings of Akagera National Park with a compelling tale of survival and territory. Through television sets, people from Norway to Thailand got to witness Rwanda’s ground-breaking conservation success story: the return of lions to the verdant lands after a 15-year absence, with their numbers doubling in number in just one year.