How to Stave Off the Recession? Trade Globally.

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What the world needs now is not love sweet love but more trade - international trade that is.

Director-General Pascal Lamy, in his annual report to members on developments in the international trading environment, said: “The world needs a renewed and stronger commitment from all Governments to revitalize the multilateral trading system that can restore economic certainty at a time when it is badly needed. The policy determination to resist inward-looking policies seems to be faltering in some countries, even as the world economy needs more trade to stave off recession.”

Learn more here.

Note:  Information presented covers the period mid-October 2011 to mid-October 2012.  The full report is available on the WTO website.

Globalization of Services Is Still In Infancy

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According to WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy:

“The global economy is being transformed at an unprecedented speed and at the heart of that transformation is the services economy. (…) Services underpin every part of the production process, from research and development to design, engineering, financing, transportation, distribution and marketing. In short, without services, there would be little value-added and innovation.”

Learn more about the growth of the services economy here.

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International Trade Promotes Growth and Development

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In a speech, “Charting a Course for Trade in an Uncertain Future," given by Director-General of the World Trade Organization Pascal Lamy at the Brookings Dialogue in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, he said:

Trade as a share of global GDP has risen from roughly 40% in 1980 to around 60% today. In the United States, a country long considered less dependent on trade than many others, the share has risen from 10% to 25% over the same period of time.  US exports of goods and services in the last 10 years have more than doubled to over $2 trillion. One reason for this dramatic expansion is that US exporters have entered new markets in a big way. When China entered the WTO in 2001, US exports to the Middle Kingdom were $20 billion. By 2011 they had increased more than five-fold to over $100 billion. 

Read the entire speech here.