ECONOMY: What Role Can the IMF Play Today?

Having failed, to date, to play an active role in the current global financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may become a symbol of the end of an era and the need for a different system, more suitable to today’s new world order.

ECONOMY-SOUTH AMERICA: Day-to-Day Impact of Crisis Not Yet Felt

The financial crisis that originated in the United States demonstrates, more clearly than any previous such event, the distance between capital markets and ordinary citizens, especially in developing countries.

EU: Defiant Guyana to be Punished

The European Union is preparing to impose swingeing taxes on goods imported from Guyana as punishment for the Caribbean island's refusal to accept a free trade accord.

LATAM-CARIBBEAN: Everyone Is Invited to the Summit

For the first time ever, the heads of state and government of Latin America and the Caribbean will gather for a summit meeting Dec. 16 and 17 in Salvador, the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, in a new attempt to further regional integration, at present fragmented in several subregional blocs.

TRADE: Little Scope For Europe-Asia FTAs

Plans to conclude free trade agreements (FTAs) between the European Union and several Asian economies are unlikely to be realised in the near future, a senior Brussels official has conceded.

TRADE-LATAM: Saved by Diversification

South America’s tendency towards trade diversification over the past few years may spare the region the worst repercussions from the U.S. financial crisis, unlike Mexico, which will definitely feel the effects, as its northern neighbour absorbs a majority of its exports, say experts.

EUROPE: Preparing to Get at Resources of the Poor

European Union officials are drawing up a new strategy for giving multinational companies greater access to minerals and wood located in poor countries.

POLITICS: IBSA Banks on Trade, Tourism

As the India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) grouping takes formal steps towards promoting tourism among the three countries, industry representatives say ‘real work’ needs to be done to pull together an initiative that must work across vast stretches of ocean.

LABOUR: Abuse, Alienation Daily Fare for Women Migrants

Sexual abuse, harassment, poor living conditions and disconnection with their families and own cultures - these are real-life stories that Sharu Joshi Shrestha hears from many Nepali, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan women migrants who come to her office each day.

JAPAN: Tainted Rice Scam Shakes Consumer Confidence

Consumer confidence in quality-conscious Japan has been badly shaken by a scandal over contaminated rice that was discovered to have been imported and distributed to restaurants, hospitals, schools and stores.

Q&A: Unravelling the Knots of Tied Aid

The forum on aid effectiveness in Accra has delivered "profound" decisions to change the way aid is structured, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria told IPS in an interview.

ECONOMY: Industrialised Nations’ Slowdown Could Spill Over to Poor Countries

A new United Nations report on the outlook for the global economy over the next few months indicates that the robust growth seen in developing countries could be checked by the slowdown in the industrialised world.

TRADE: Old Talks Never Die

"History tells us that multilateral trade negotiations never die, and the current Doha Round is no exception," said economist Carlos Pérez del Castillo, Uruguay’s former permanent representative to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and chairman of the global body’s General Council in 2003 and 2004.

HEALTH-MEXICO: Local Drug Companies Protest Opening of Market

Mexico’s pharmaceutical industry, which thanks to laws that have been labelled protectionist has grown into the most powerful in Latin America, warns that the unrestricted importation of medicines decided by the government will expose the public to "a possible health catastrophe."

TRADE-CHINA: Food Security Prompted Tough Line at Geneva

China's tough stance at the 'Doha' trade talks in Geneva has less to do with political posturing than with the country's long-standing obsession with food security, experts here suggest.

TRADE-INDIA: Mixed Feelings Over WTO Failure in Geneva

The collapse of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations at Geneva has left Indian analysts with mixed feelings. One view is that no deal is better than a bad one. The other is that because the alternative for developing countries is far worse, India should have been more flexible.

TRADE: New World Order in Doha’s Wake

The standoff between China and India, the world’s two fastest growing economies, and the United States not only buried the last attempt to save the Doha Round, but also demonstrated changes in the balance of power since the WTO was created in 1995, say observers.

BRAZIL: Doha Failure a ‘Triumph of Protectionism’, Say Trade Sources

"Protectionism has triumphed," said the vice president of Brazil’s Foreign Trade Association, José Augusto de Castro, referring to Tuesday’s collapse of the Doha Round of multilateral trade talks in Geneva.

TRADE: Doha Round Crumbles to Dust

The Doha Round of multilateral trade talks was brought crashing down late Tuesday by the same discrepancies between rich and poor countries that have marked the nearly seven years of negotiations from the start.

ECONOMY-THAILAND: IPR Violations High on Bush Visit Agenda

The pirated DVDs, fake Swiss watches and imitation designer garments are fast disappearing from the streets of Patpong, a red light strip in the Thai capital popular with tourists and bargain-hunters.

TRADE: A Partial Doha Agreement

The trade ministers of 33 WTO member countries ironed out a few of the differences Friday that have been standing in the way of the completion of the Doha Round of multilateral trade talks, although the emerging deal must still win the backing of all of the global body’s 153 members.