"lower Trade Barriers, Stronger Global Trading System Can Help End Extreme Poverty" (2)

Istanbul, June 30 (DHA) - A greater and more sustained effort to deepen the integration of developing countries into the global trading system through lower trade costs and fewer barriers between countries is essential to eliminating extreme poverty, according to a joint World Bank Group (WB) and World Trade Organization (WTO) report launched on Tuesday.

World Bank Group (WB) President Jim Yong Kim and World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevêdo, launched the report “The Role of Trade in Ending Poverty” on Tuesday, at the 5th Global Review of Aid for Trade taking place from 30 June to 2 July at the WTO's Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The report, pointed to trade as a key enabler of developing country growth, but said that efforts to lower trade barriers would need to be complemented by efforts to maximize gains for the poor in order to ensure that the benefits reach the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.

Since 1990, 1 billion people had been lifted out of poverty, said in the report, stating that the trade had played a key role, helping to lift growth in developing countries. To further harness the power of trade in helping the nearly 1 billion people still living on 1.25 dollars per day, a sustained effort is needed to address the key constraints that limit the poor from benefiting from wider economic gains, it added.

Among the key strategies for extending the benefits of trade to the poor were lowering trade costs through such means as the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement and through policies which made markets more accessible for poor people, especially those in rural and conflict-affected areas, making it easier for them to take advantage of trade opportunities.

“By supporting growth and development around the world, trade has proved to be an essential tool in tackling poverty. This report is a blueprint to enhance this role so that trade can do even more to improve the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable” said Roberto Azevêdo.

“Trade plays an essential role in driving private sector-led growth and job creation and can be a powerful force in reducing poverty and increasing incomes” said Jim Yong Kim. “But we must do more than expand trade. We must also build roads that connect farmers to markets, and empower women to be full participants in the labor market. We must always connect the poorest to trade opportunities.”

“By supporting growth and development around the world, trade has proved to be an essential tool in tackling poverty. This report is a blueprint to enhance this role so that trade can do even more to improve the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable” said Roberto Azevêdo. “A combination of the right practical support and domestic policies can make a big difference here. By helping the poor to help themselves we can better ensure that developing countries more actively participate in the global trading system and reap the benefits that trade has delivered to so many in the recent past.”