Global Partnership and National Policies for Development
Author(s)
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Abstract
The Trade and Development Report 2003 offers a distinct perspective on global economic trends and prospects. With the leading industrial countries still not pulling in the same direction, prospects for much of the developing world are clouded by tensions in the trading system, volatility in the currency market and deflationary pressures. This year’s Report traces the difficulties back to the pattern of global trade and financial flows in the 1990s. But the Report also asks whether market-led reforms adopted in many developing countries after the debt crisis of the early 1980s have strengthened these countries´ ability to withstand external shocks. The Report looks for clues in what has been happening to their investment climate, their patterns of industrial development and their international competitiveness. The focus of this analysis is Latin America, where reforms have gone furthest, but where initially observed successes have not endured. As the UN Secretary-General notes in his Foreword, “The Report provides explanations that may challenge conventional points of view, and calls for new thinking on development strategies”.
