The expansion of international trade hasbeen essential to development and poverty reduction. Todayseconomy is unquestionable global. Trade as a proportion ofglobal GDP has approximately doubled since 1975. Markets forgoods and services have become increasingly integratedthrough a fall in trade barriers, with technology helpingdrive trade costs lower. But trade is not an end in itself.People measure the value of trade by the extent to which itdelivers better livelihoods, through higher incomes, greaterchoice, and a more sustainable future, among other benefits.For the extreme poor living on less than $1.25 a day, thecentral value of trade is its potential to help transformtheir lives and those of their families. In this way, thereis no doubt that the integration of global markets throughtrade openness has made a critical contribution to povertyreduction. The number of people living in extreme povertyaround the world has fallen by around one billion since1990. Without the growing participation of developingcountries in international trade, and sustained efforts tolower barriers to the integration of markets, it is hard tosee how this reduction could have been achieved.
PDF
download
878987797
028-85220240
