RESOURCES

EXPORT COMPETITIVENESS AND DEVELOPMENT IN LDCs: POLICIES, ISSUES, AND PRIORITIES FOR LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES FOR ACTION DURING AND BEYOND UNCTAD XII. UNCTAD, 1 April 2008. For several decades, the least developed countries (LDCs) have been pursuing wide-ranging economic policies and strategies, mainly in the context of structural adjustment programmes and, more recently, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. Trade liberalization and integration have remained a central focus and an essential component of development policies and strategies of LDCs. Unfortunately, the extensive policies and measures undertaken by those countries have not yet generated the form and quality of growth required for reversing their continued marginalization in the world economy. Their persistent underdevelopment and, in many cases, long-term decline illustrate how trade and integration may be necessary but not sufficient for development and poverty reduction in LDCs. This is due to the interplay of external and internal development challenges and the problems facing the LDCs. The present study argues that despite the many and complex obstacles, there is considerable scope for many LDCs to join the group of successful exporters, particularly in the field of traditional exports such as oil, copper, coffee, cocoa and groundnuts. It emphasizes three important areas of non-traditional exports with significant growth potential for LDCs: horticulture, fishing and tourism. There could also be dynamic gains particularly in traditional exports and horticulture, notably in the form of technological upgrading, quality control, marketing networks and market connections. The paper is available online at http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/aldc20081_en.pdf.

THE CONSENSUS FOR FREE TRADE AMONG ECONOMISTS - HAS IT FRAYED? By Jagdish Bhagwati. Columbia University, 2007. This paper, distributed at a WTO lecture in late 2007, focuses on the differences between what economists actually have to say about fair trade and the media's portrayal of those arguments. Many American politicians cite the press when pronouncing their lukewarm views on trade. However, according to Bagwhati, "The truth of the matter is that free trade is alive and well among economists, their analytical arguments in favour of it, developed with great sophistication in the postwar theory of commercial policy, having hardly been dented by any original arguments by the few economists[…]arrayed against it. The paper is available on the WTO website at http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news07_e/bhagwati_oct07_e.htm.

INDIA'S ENGAGEMENT WITH THE AFRICAN INDIAN OCEAN RIM STATES. By Alex Vines and Bereni Oruitemekai. Chatham House, April 2008. In recent years India has strengthened its involvement in the African Indian Ocean Rim considerably. This shift in policy comes in part because of India's desire to compete with China's growing influence in the region. The Indian Ocean has immense significance to India's development. India's strategy is deepening not only commercially but due to concerns over its security and hegemony in the region, which are underpinned by India's 2004 maritime doctrine. During the mid-1990s Indian foreign policy was largely introspective and concerned with consolidating its position as the regional power. Despite being a member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation, there was little enthusiasm for the association and it produced few tangible results. The emergence of trilateral developmental initiative between India, Brazil and South Africa clearly reflected India's priority of positioning itself as a major developmental power. The growing importance of the African Indian Ocean Rim to India is evidenced by increasing bilateral and trilateral efforts and improved relations, notably with Mauritius, the Seychelles, Madagascar and coastal states such as Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania..The paper is available online at http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/11293_india_africa0408.pdf