GENEVA, Jan. 1 -- Over the past 25 years, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has helped transform international economic relations, said Roberto Azevedo, director-general of the WTO, on Wednesday.
"Binding rules for global trade in goods and services have facilitated dramatic growth in cross-border business activity," said Azevedo in a written statement, marking the 25th founding anniversary of the WTO, which was established on Jan. 1, 1995.
Azevedo recalled that since 1995, the dollar value of world trade has nearly quadrupled, while the real volume of world trade has expanded by 2.7 times. "This far outstrips the two-fold increase in world GDP over that period," he underlined.
Meanwhile, average tariffs have almost halved, from 10.5 percent to 6.4 percent, he noted.
The predictable market conditions fostered by the WTO have combined with improved communications to enable the rise of global value chains (GVCs), he continued, adding that the rise of GVCs has been a key factor in enabling rapid catch-up growth in developing economies, while facilitating increased purchasing power and consumer choice in all countries.
Despite these considerable achievements, Azevedo acknowledged that "the WTO faces challenges today that are unmatched in our relatively short history."
He said that over the past two years, governments have introduced trade restrictions covering a substantial amount of international trade. He also admitted that "in dispute settlement we suffered a setback... when members could not agree on reforms for the Appellate Body."
The Appellate Body, the de facto court of appeals at the WTO, is unable to hear any new cases since Dec. 11, 2019, because it only has one judge left due to repeated blockage of the nomination of its members by the United States.
However, Azevedo stressed that he had already started consultations with members to explore all aspects of dispute settlement reform and would engage at high political levels both in Geneva and in capitals to identify potential solutions.
The WTO chief said he continued to believe that the WTO is more important than ever before for the global economy, for job creation, for growth and for development.
2009年4月雅思写作权威预测
2009年4月雅思写作预测及范文推荐
2009年4月30/5月9日雅思G类大作文预测
2009年5月30日雅思考试全面预测—翡翠冰糖
2009年6月雅思考试最新信息整理
2009年5月30日雅思口语预测—颜炜
2009年5月雅思写作重点话题预测及趋势分析
2009年6月13日雅思口语预测—Shirley
2009年6月20日雅思考试全面权威预测—叶毅斌
2009年5月30日雅思考试全面预测—3G版
2009年4月4日雅思听力预测
2009年7月4日雅思考试全面预测——叶毅斌
2009年4月25日/30日雅思写作预测
2009年4月25日雅思考试预测——翡翠冰糖版
2009年5月16日雅思听力预测—曾丽娟
2009年6月27日3G雅思考试预测
雅思听力4月重点预测—徐佩
2009年6月雅思考试口语预测
2009年6月20日3G雅思考试预测
2009年4月18日雅思口语预测—曾丽娟
09年5月30日雅思考试全面权威预测—叶毅斌(6月适用)
2009年5月9日雅思作文预测
2009年4月30日/5月9日雅思口语话题预测
09年6月各场雅思听力考试最新预测版本号
2009年5月雅思口语预测最新话题补充
2009年5月9日雅思口语预测—陆文佳
2009年7月4日3G雅思考试预测
7月11日雅思考试预测——翡翠冰糖版
2009年3月21日雅思口语预测
2009年5月9日雅思听力预测 —曾丽娟
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |