Globalisation

POLITICS-JAPAN: In Two Minds About the Thai Coup

By Suvendrini Kakuchi
Thailand's 18th military coup, though bloodless and relatively calm, has raised troubling issues for Japan that plays a key role in South-east Asia's development.

ECONOMY-ASIA: Coup Puts Indo-Thai Free Trade Deal in Doldrums

By IPS Correspondents
An ambitious free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Thailand may have been stalled indefinitely by the Sep. 19 military coup. The two countries were meant to renegotiate the FTA after elections in Thailand set for mid-October, but this process is now shrouded in uncertainty.

FINANCE: World Bank Careless About Development Goals – Report

By IPS Correspondents
Several developing countries are not reaching sustainable development targets fast enough despite numerous international agreements, says a report, launched here amidst criticism that World Bank energy and mining projects were not doing enough to protect the environment and improve the plight of the poor.

FINANCE: World Bank Profits From Poor Countries – Report

By IPS Correspondents
The World Bank receives more from developing countries than what it disburses to them says a new report released Tuesday as finance ministers endorsed a controversial new Bank plan to tackle corruption in developing countries.

FINANCE: India Has Reason for Anger at WB-IMF

By IPS Correspondents
The unceremonious deportation from Singapore of several prominent Indian critics of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has drawn fresh attention in this country to the autocratic functioning of these financial institutions, now holding their annual meeting in the city-state.

FINANCE: IMF Nod to China, Mexico, S.Korea and Turkey

By IPS Correspondents
The 184 member nations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) formally approved Monday, a proposal to raise slightly the voting shares of China and three other developing countries in the biggest reforms in the Fund's six-decade history - but critics say the changes are cosmetic.

FINANCE: With China Lending, IMF-WB Conditions Take a Toss

By IPS Correspondents
As world financial leaders are casting ballots this week to increase the voting rights of China on the board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Chinese leaders have been reminded that with more power comes greater responsibility and that Beijing will be scrutinised on the ways it chooses to use its new credentials in the global economy.

FINANCE: Transparency Begins at Home, WB-IMF Told

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
Civil society organisations gathered on this island, ahead of the annual meeting of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in neighbouring Singapore, have launched a ‘global charter' demanding transparency from the finance institutions.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: LDC Status Hard to Shake

By Moyiga Nduru
There were 18 in Africa 35 years ago. There are 34 now - which begs the question: are policies to thin the ranks of the almost three dozen least developed countries (LDCs) on the continent even somewhat effective?

FINANCE: NGOs to Sue S’pore, WB-IMF for Abuse at Airport

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
Civil society representatives denied entry into Singapore to attend the annual meeting of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have vowed to take legal action for abuse and humiliation suffered at the hands of airport immigration authorities.

FINANCE: Mass Boycott by NGOs May Yet Shame WB-IMF

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
Civil society organisations have fired an unprecedented salvo at the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by declaring a boycott of the annual meetings of the two financial powerhouses being held in nearby, authoritarian Singapore.

FINANCE: WB-IMF ‘Helpless’ as Host S’pore Deports Critics

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
At 24 years and with a winning smile, Julie de los Reyes packs no more danger than any outspoken critic at a conference. But authorities in Singapore, a 30-minute ferry ride from this Indonesian island, see this young Filipina as a security threat.

TRADE: Brazil, India and South Africa Optimistic About Future Ties

By IPS Correspondents
The first India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA) summit ended Wednesday in Brasilia with optimism expressed by the leaders regarding ambitious active cooperation plans among these emerging powers of the developing South and promises for future initiatives in economic and cultural complementation.

RIGHTS-INDONESIA: Curbs for WB-IMF Meet – Reality Check for NGOs

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
The uncertainty that has dogged a meeting for civil society groups in Batam, an Indonesian island close to Singapore, has come as a reality check - apparently, all is not well for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) here, eight years after the fall of the Suharto dictatorship.

HEALTH-CUBA: War on Mosquitoes Continues During Global Summit

By Dalia Acosta
The start of the week-long 14th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) forced the Cuban government to suspend its spraying with military planes, but it has not cut short the intense offensive against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the potentially deadly dengue virus.

POLITICS: NAM Reform Draws Cheers, Shrugs from Andean Nations

By Humberto Márquez
Andean governments attending the fourteenth summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which opened Monday in Havana, agree that the 116-member bloc needs to be modernised, but their approaches to the task range from indifference to enthusiasm, depending on their national political processes.

POLITICS: Non-Aligned Summit Opens Amidst Suspense Over Castro

By Dalia Acosta
The week-long 14th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) opened Monday with the usual suspense over whether or not Cuban President Fidel Castro would be participating, although heightened this time by the fact that he is recovering from major surgery and is the leader of the host country.

RIGHTS-INDIA: Communist Gov’t Evicts Farmers for Industries

By Sujoy Dhar
Peasants living on the edges of this eastern metropolis are seething in anger at the world's longest serving provincial communist government which wants them to hand over their lush green farmlands for an automobile plant being set up by the Tata group, a flag bearer of capitalist enterprise in this country.

TRADE: International Order Is at Stake, G20 Warns

By Mario Osava
Immediate resumption of the Doha Round of multilateral trade talks, on the basis of the original pro-development aim, with agriculture at the top of the agenda, were the demands of developing countries meeting Saturday on an initiative by the Group of 20 (G20).

FINANCE: IMF-WB Exposed by Ban on NGOs at S’pore Meet

By IPS Correspondents
Attempts to stop an International People's Forum (IPF) on the Indonesian island of Batam, planned to coincide with next week's annual meeting of the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Singapore, reflect badly on the finance institutions and expose their ‘anti-people' policies, say forum organizers.

ARGENTINA: A Cautious Return to the Non-Aligned Movement

By Marcela Valente
Keeping a low profile, as if hoping its presence at the huge forum of the developing world will go unnoticed, Argentina is slipping back into the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which it left amid an uproar 15 years ago to embrace a policy of unreserved alignment with the United States.
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