India: House panel opposes foreign investment in retail

8 June, 2009
New Delhi: A Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended a blanket ban on foreign investment in retail and has opposed even big domestic corporate entering the sector saying that it will lead to unemployment.

U.S. Civil Society Platform on Trade-Related IP and Access to Medicines Issues

8 June, 2009
The following represents four key goals that our organizations agree should guide US trade policy and practice with regard to intellectual property (IP) and health matters.

Call for "global jobs pact" amidst rising job losses

3 June, 2009
The International Labour Organization's ninety-eighth tripartite conference gets under way from 3-19 June amidst the latest ILO labour market projections showing a further increase in the number of unemployed, working poor and those in vulnerable employment

India committed to successful conclusion of Doha process: Anand Sharma

8 June, 2009
In his special address to the Cairns group, in Bali today, Shri Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry has reiterated the Indian commitment to the successful conclusion of the Doha process through a constructive engagement.

World economy to shrink by 2.6% this year

29 May, 2009

Geneva, 28 May (Kanaga Raja) -- The United Nations on Wednesday downgraded its economic forecast for 2009, projecting the world economy to shrink by 2.6% this year, with the poorest countries to be hit the hardest.
 
The downgrade comes on top of an already pessimistic UN estimate five months ago, when it had projected a decline by 0.5%.
 
The even grimmer economic picture has been outlined by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) in its mid-year report "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009".
 

WTO to attend Cairns Group

1 June, 2009
WTO chief Pascal Lamy (left) will attend a meeting in Bali next week as part of attempts to restart global trade talks

Developing countries nix Lamy's two-track approach to Doha talks

28 May, 2009
Many developing countries appear to have opposed and/or voiced concerns over a suggestion by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy for work along "two simultaneous tracks", one on modalities in agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA) and another for commencing the scheduling exercise in both these areas.

WTO to hold seventh Ministerial Conference end November

28 May, 2009
The WTO General Council on Tuesday decided to convene its seventh Ministerial Conference in Geneva from 30 November to 2 December, nearly four years after its last conference in Hong Kong-China in 2005.

Australia: Don't Push PACER

9 June, 2009
Next week, Australia's Trade Minister Simon Crean will attend the Pacific Island Forum Trade Ministers Meeting in Apia, Samoa.

SNR Coalition Statement on the Doha Round Negotiations

The Stop the New Round Coalition (SNR) joins peoples’ organizations and movements across the globe in calling for the rejection of the WTO Doha Round and we demand that the Philippine government turn around and walk away from these unfair and unjust negotiations.