- A paper ‘30 years of WTO: how has development dimension progressed? – a way forward’ submitted recently to the WTO General Council by India.
- India has called for prioritisation of real-life trade issues at the World Trade Organization that impact developing countries: access to finance and technology, bridging the digital divide, enhancing effective aid for trade, food security and issues holding back digital development.
- India asked members to submit proposals on such issues to bring back focus on the development dimension of WTO.
- Development dimension has been at the core of the Marrakesh Agreement (1994) establishing the World Trade Organization.
- The preamble of the Marrakesh Agreement accords primacy to the developmental objectives of this organisation.
- On the latest WTO ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi, the paper noted, that there is a substantial unfinished development agenda emanating from the MC13 Abu Dhabi Ministerial Declaration.
Dig Deeper: Has the WTO as an institution proven to be a defender of the rights of the weak and vulnerable among its members?
