World Trade Organisation (WTO) has urged governments to reduce trade barriers and improve access to markets to help lower-income economies grow and reduce income inequality.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a report titled ‘Trade and Inclusiveness: How to Make Trade Work for All,’ the WTO said that while trade has played a crucial role in promoting global economic convergence and reducing poverty, some individuals, regions, and economies have been left behind.
“Growing concern about income inequality levels, which remain high in most economies, have led some to argue that globalisation is detrimental to development and inclusiveness because it favours wealthy economies and individuals, leaving marginalized groups and regions behind,” the WTO said.
To address this, the organisation urged governments to address trade costs in services, bridge the digital divide, and tackle regulatory capacity and compliance issues.
“Improving access for low-income economies to markets in both high-income and emerging economies, including by addressing tariff escalation on processed goods and trade-distorting subsidies, can also support economic growth in a world where an increasing share of trade is among developing economies,” the report said.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala commented on the report, saying, “Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the report is its reaffirmation of trade’s transformative role in reducing poverty and creating shared prosperity — contrary to the currently fashionable notion that trade, and institutions like the WTO, have not been good for poverty or for poor countries, and are creating a more unequal world.”
