“Systematic consultations amongst the stakeholders – especially between policymakers and the civil society organisations involving common people is the bedrock for generating positive linkages between trade openness and poverty reduction and development.”
This view was expressed by M.Supperamaniam, Adviser, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers. Mr. Supperamaniam was addressing participants at a Conference on “Trade, Development and Poverty Linkages: Lessons and Future Directions” organised by CUTS International, an NGO engaged across continents in research and advocacy on trade and regulatory issues, in Jaipur on Tuesday. The Conference explored the dynamic relationship between international trade and poverty alleviation with focus on South Asia, South-East Asia and Africa.
Anwarul Huda, Former Member of Planning Commission, Government of India, speaking on the occasion, opined that as a pre-condition for generating a positive linkage between trade openness and poverty reduction, “prevalence of rule of law based on a stable social and political is the basic necessity”.
Earlier Pradeep S. Mehta, Secretary General of CUTS International, in his introductory speech, emphasised that outlining the pre-conditions and flanking policies are badly needed to exploit the synergies between trade openness, poverty reduction, and development.
Other imminent speakers at the conference included Gijsbert van Liemt from Sweden; Ngo Huang, Center for Development and Integration, Vietnam, Posh Raj Pandey, President, South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment, Nepal; Dharshani Premaratne, Institute of Policies Studies, Sril Lanka; Mohammed Abu Eusuf, Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka; Shakeel Ahmed, Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Pakistan; Siddhartha Mitra, Research Director, CUTS International. The conference was attended by about fifty experts from different parts of the world.
For more information, please contact:
Purnima Purohit, CUTS International pp@cuts.org (Ph. 9413678540)
Suresh P. Singh, CUTS International sps@cuts.org (Ph. 9460736459)