FINANCE: World Bank Careless About Development Goals – Report

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

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

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

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

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.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: LDC Status Hard to Shake

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?

DEVELOPMENT: Real Aid to LDCs Declining

Meeting last year in Gleneagles, Scotland, the G8 group of rich countries pledged to make African debt relief, accelerated aid, and increased trade their top priorities. One year later, most of those initiatives have not borne fruit. The only part of the programme running according to schedule is debt relief, which can look very good on paper but translates into very little improvement on the ground.

INDIA: Special Economic Zones, Path to Massive Land Grab

India, often touted as an emerging economic superpower and "the next China", seems bent on emulating some of the worst aspects of Chinese economic policy as practised before that country embarked on sustained industrialisation.

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

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.

TRADE: International Order Is at Stake, G20 Warns

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).

POLITICS: Havana May Breathe Vigour Into Non-Alignment

Will next week's summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Havana, Cuba, be a wasteful jamboree marked by ponderous speeches and lofty but empty rhetoric? Or will it rejuvenate the movement and transform it into an exciting enterprise that reflects the aspirations of the vast majority of the world's people who live in 116 member-states and 17 observer countries?

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

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.

BRAZIL: Capital of the Developing South?

Over the next few days, Brazil will be hosting two international meetings that reflect its diplomatic priorities: strengthening concrete shared interests, especially trade-related, in smaller blocs of developing nations, instead of something as broad as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

FINANCE: Revalue Yuan and Get More Say at IMF, China Told

The rise of China as a globally pivotal economy has encouraged a chorus of ever louder demands from other major economies that Chinese policymakers shoulder more responsibilities about the value and behaviour of their currency - the yuan.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: What They’ll Talk About in 2007

With dozens, if not hundreds of organisations likely to attend next year's World Social Forum (WSF) - and almost as many issues clamouring to be addressed there - nailing down a programme for the Jan. 20-25 event promises to be a daunting task.

ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Coke, Pepsi Face Public Ire

A month after seven Indian states imposed severe restrictions on the sale of colas and other aerated drinks, the Coca-Cola company has become the target of a vigorous popular campaign in Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state.

TRADE-LATIN AMERICA: New Context Helps Economic Drivers Face Threats

Shifting world dynamics mean that a proposed overhaul of the U.S. tariff preference system threatening to exclude Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela - the three main countries currently driving trade within Latin America - needs to be examined in a global context.

RIGHTS-SINGAPORE: Anti-WB/IMF Protestors Have Nowhere to Go

Threatened with arrests and canings, activists planning demonstrations at the annual meet of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), to be held here this month, are organising a parallel event on the nearby Indonesian island of Batam. But, even in that ‘free trade zone' they are going to be less than free.

DEVELOPMENT: Countries of the South Urged to Reclaim “Policy Space”

UNCTAD's Trade and Development Report for 2006 urges countries of the South to implement more autonomous policies, and also to further strengthen the global partnership for development to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by the United Nations for 2015.

SOUTH KOREA: Free Trade With US May Trip Over Cars, Drugs

A free trade agreement (FTA) that South Korea hopes to close with the United States, this year, is stumbling over import tariffs that this country maintains on automobiles and restrictions on pharmaceutical drugs.

DEATH PENALTY: Vietnamese Trader – and Foreign Business – In Jeopardy

A Vietnamese trader could face the death penalty if she is found guilty of losing money on a foreign currency transaction while working for a state-owned bank.