UNCTAD, India and the United Kingdom today announced the launch of a new project to assess the impact and opportunities for India of trade and globalization.
The five-year project is being funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), in the amount of some £ 5.4 million (Rs. 41,11,72,300).
Entitled "Strategies and preparedness for trade and globalization in India", the project has two main objectives. First, it will assist Indian trade negotiators, policy makers and other stakeholders in understanding the development dimension of key trade issues, particularly as they related to the current WTO agenda. Secondly, it will strengthen the country´s human and institutional capacities for analysis of globalization-related issues and facilitate a policy environment that will support and sustain a more equitable process of globalization. In the process, the project should help India derive the greatest possible benefits from the multilateral trading system and influence international trade rule-making. The project will work in partnership with the private sector and civil society. It will focus on institutions and sectors with the greatest potential to affect the poor in their roles as producers, workers, consumers and citizens.
The main issues for the project are:
- Agriculture and food security;
- Non-agricultural market access, including textiles;
- The TRIPS Agreement;
- Impact of WTO agreements on small-scale industries;
- Services;
- Environment;
- Trade facilitation;
- Dispute settlement;
- Regional trade agreements;
- Investment; and
- Competition.
UNCTAD and India´s Ministry of Commerce and Industry will cooperate on the project. Attending today´s launch in Geneva were Rubens Ricupero, Secretary-General of UNCTAD; Hardeep Singh Puri, Permanent Representative of India to the UN in Geneva; Simon Fuller, Permanent Representative of the UK to the UN in Geneva; and two senior DFID officials.
