March 2013

Following BRICS development bank plan with great interest: IMF

The Economic Times, 29 March, 2013
The International Monetary Fund has said it is following with “great interest” the recent announcement by leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (known as BRICS) to establish a development bank. Unlike World bank, The IMF, however, stopped short of welcoming the plan. “On the development bank, we’re following this initiative with great interest,” IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice said.
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Global economic growth prospects better, says OECD

The Economic Times, 28 March, 2013
World economic activities are picking up with better growth prospects seen in the US, Japan and other major developed nations while emerging countries continue to drive the momentum, Paris-based OECD said. However, the think tank said that continuing crisis in the euro zone is delaying “a meaningful recovery”.
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Food security, an emerging challenge for import driven countries- Report

Premium Times, 28 March, 2013
Food security, an emerging challenge, after the major spikes in food prices in 2007 and 2008, is now of primary concern especially for countries, like Nigeria, that rely on buying, rather than producing, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), has said.
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China should be more active in global economic governance

WTO News, 24 March, 2013
With advanced economies and emerging countries divided over how to balance the gains and the costs of international issues such as the Doha Round negotiations, China is well-placed to become an agent of convergence, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told the China Development Forum in Beijing, 24 March 2013.
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Transparency, accountability key to economic development

The Financial Express, 20 March, 2013
Accountability and transparency are considered to be the most important keys to development, peace and progress. It is evident from the present world economic scenario that the more developed and peaceful countries have track record of strong transparency and accountability in their public and private institutions.
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Building a better world

China Daily, 20 March, 2013
The foundation for the solidarity of the BRICS members is their common aspiration for a more equitable world order. An unbiased look at BRICS ahead of the fifth BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa – which will conclude the first round of summits – will show that the significance of BRICS lies not just in the economic cooperation of its members. The grouping has now gone far beyond its original investment concept and evolved into an independent platform for collaboration and coordination among the world’s leading emerging economies.
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Emerging economies: ‘shapers and makers’ in changing landscape

WTO News, 14 March, 2013
Global value chains now span South-South lines and emerging developing countries are active in writing international trade rules rather than simply taking what they are given, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said in an address at Bigli University, Istanbul, on 14 March 2013.
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Asian Century means shared prosperity, responsibility and multilateral agreements

WTO News, 11 March, 2013
Asia has enjoyed a surge in trade in proportion to its economic size, is increasingly involved in global supply chains and has turned to free trade agreements to pursue its trade agenda. The time has come to “multilateralize” those agreements, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told a conference on “The Future of the World Trading System: Asian perspectives” on 11 March 2013.
Speech | Statement by Pascal Lamy

“A prominent place for growth in the post-2015 development agenda” – Pascal Lamy

WTO News, 07 March, 2013
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, in a speech at the Conference on International Cooperation in 2020 in the Hague on 7 March 2013, said that “economic growth and trade – as a driver of growth – deserve a prominent place in the post 2015 development agenda. We need an agenda that integrates economic growth with social inclusion and with environmental protection.” He added: “Collectively we must plan for a common destination for the post-2015 development agenda. We need a compass that has countries converging around the same destination. ‘Convergence’ must be an overarching principle. At the same time we need to allow for differences in the pace and rhythm of getting there. And we must make special efforts towards the poorest and weakest. These are in my view the three basic ingredients for a post-2015 development agenda.”
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Developing Asia becomes increasingly integrated, but challenges remain: ADB

Pak Observer, 06 March, 2013
Developing Asia has become increasingly integrated over the past decade, led by growing trade and tourism and, most recently, as the region faced down the global financial crisis and subsequent eurozone crisis, according to a new integration index published in the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) latest Asian Economic Integration Monitor.
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Global economic growth slows, but stocks rally

The Economic Times, 06 March, 2013
Global economic growth slowed to a four-month low in February, according to service sector surveys, but China’s pledge to boost government spending to achieve 7.5 percent growth this year may help support activity in Europe and the United States also.
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The FAO must do more to promote food as a basic human right

Business Week, 03 March, 2013
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation needs to accelerate its movement towards a rights-based approach to food security.
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How the Developing World Escaped This Debt Trap

Business Week, 03 March, 2013
Developing countries used to rule the roost when it came to debt crises and defaults. But after a painful period of policy reform supported by considerable debt relief and restructuring, they were in a far stronger position by the end of the last decade.
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New Study: ‘World Can End Poverty and Limit Warming’

Climate Central, 03 March, 2013
Eradicating poverty by making modern energy supplies available to everyone is not only compatible with measures to slow climate change, a new study says. It is a necessary condition for it.
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World poverty: Can the G8 deliver on the promise it made at Gleneagles?

The Guardian, 02 March, 2013
In 2005, wealthy nations vowed to make poverty history. As their leaders prepare to meet in the UK again, the task is unfinished – and they are under pressure to tackle their own problems first.
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Population boom set to spur growth in Mideast

Gulf Daily News, 02 March, 2013
A population boom means a huge potential workforce for the Middle East, but only if governments invest in them, according to Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). In its latest quarterly report, the accountancy and finance body says the huge increase in younger people will demand strategic decisions in how to direct public spending.
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US Child Poverty Rates Are High, The United Kingdom May Have Answers

International Business Times, 01 March, 2013
In recent years, international surveys have concluded that the U.S. leads the pack when it comes to the number of children living in impoverished conditions among industrialized nations, with nearly 16 million children. And even when considering percentages, not absolute numbers, only Romania had a higher rate than the U.S. (25.5 percent versus 23.1 percent) of child poverty among industrialized nations in 2011, according to the most recent analysis of relative poverty from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
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Taking Aim at Chronic Unemployment and Poverty

Huff Post, 01 March, 2013
The chronically unemployed live within or haunt the edges of every American community. Unable to find work due to a lack of education, extreme poverty, homelessness, family instability, substance abuse, mental illness, criminal histories, or race, ethnicity, and gender bias, their plight reminds America of how far short we’ve fallen from the promise of justice and opportunity.
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