what is the SWAT analysis of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ?
The approach towards W TO Issues should be based on SWOT
analysis. Under each of the following heads, the discussion is thus
grouped under
Strength
Weakness
Opportunities
Threats
The groupings are meant for an orderly discussion and in many
instances there will be overlapping.
The groupings under which the discussion is organized are;
Trade in Goods-Non-tariff barriers
Trade in Services-Restrictions on movement of Natural Persons
Intellectual Property Rights
Trade & Environment
Trade & Labor
Trade & Investment
Regional Trade Agreements & Plurilateral Agreements
Dispute Resolution-training of negotiators
Implementation Issues
Attitudinal
1.Trade in Goods-Non-tariff barriers
The signatories to the WTO have all made commitments to reduce and
in many cases do away with import restrictions in a time frame.
However, this is fraught with many obstacles, mainly opposition
from strong groups within each country. This aspect applies to all
categories of members-Developed, Developing and Least Developed.
The Non tariff barriers then become a necessity to overcome the
political situation at home. These normally take the form of
Sanitary & Phytosanitary Standards.
Strengths-India has a strong R&D facility and has evolved into
a nation with surplus food production. It has a large manpower,
which is capable of developing new products. This will facilitate
India to capture new markets for its products.
Weakness-Years of foreign domination had killed the spirit of
enquiry, which will have to be rekindled in a big way. Shortage of
funds for R&D is also a point.
Opportunities-The WTO has opened up a huge market fro products.
India should look at newer markets rather than concentrate on the
traditional ones. This will provide a huge opportunity. Development
of trade with other Developing and least developed nations will
offer a great opportunity for India. India has to actively perform
in all International standard setting bodies and this again will
give Indian products a definite edge.
Threats-With the reduction/rationalization of Tariffs, foreign
products made with cheaper technology and mass produced, can flood
the market. But this again will peter off as has been evidenced by
the demise of the threat from cheap Chinese products.
2.Trade in Services-Restrictions on movement of Natural
Persons
The Trade in services is a significant one since the growth of the
Services sector far outstrips the trade in goods.
Strengths -India has a strong services sector, which is growth,
oriented. It has well-established bodies like the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India who regulate the profession. In all
services the country has evolved norms that are in many instances
better than internationally accepted ones. The high quality of
Indian professionals have to be highlighted which will then provide
new vistas.
Weakness-In high technology areas, India requires the technology
transfer, until domestic R&D catches up. The Visa regime in
many countries is a weakness that hampers movement of natural
persons. This will have to be taken up at the WTO.
Opportunities-As has been seen in the case of Software, India has a
huge talent pool. It also has a large English speaking population.
This coupled with the lower cost of living, offers India, a big
opportunity to tap newer markets.
Threats-As seen recently, there can be retaliation by way of new
measures taken to curb outsourcing of jobs to India. This can be
countered by effective intermediation at the WTO fora. Foreign
firms, like the ones in the Accountancy area, can offer threat to
local firms because of their reach worldwide.
3.Intellectual Property Rights
India has long been under a slumber and this has affected its
development of IPR. However we do have our strengths.
Strengths -The knowledge base of India in the fields of Agriculture
& Medicine is very vast. This can help in reaching newer
markets. The Pharmaceutical Industry has been concentrating on
R&D and the effort in the Agri and other sectors are also very
advanced. We have a very good R&D in thearea of Space and
Defense technology.
Weakness-The Indian system of medicine and Agriculture lack the
extensive documentation that is practiced in the developed
countries. This has to be overcome. Process patent also has to be
substituted by product patents.
Opportunities-Development of newer varieties of Agricultural
products and new products that are needed in other developing
countries offers India a great opportunity. Its traditional
medicine sector, which can offer cures to many illnesses otherwise
considered incurable, is also an opportunity. Sale of technology
and services in sectors like Space & Remote sensing provide
many opportunities. So do the areas related to Information
Technology.
Threats-Unless constant vigil is maintained, other countries may
try to patent/protect Indian products as in the case of Basmathy.
To overcome this, India should step up its activity in the WTO and
document all possible products with geographical indications as
also linkages to the ancient Indian texts. Mass produced goods with
latest technology are a definite threat.
4.Trade & Environment
These are newer areas, which have evolved mainly as a ruse by the
bigger trading parties to stifle exports by others.
Strengths-In many areas, India has a good system of concern for the
environment .This has to be strengthened further by streamlining
with International standards.Weakness-Being a vast country that
lacks many products, it will have to set up newer facilities, which
may be deemed to be harmful to the environment. This will have to
be tackled by developing newer norms.
Opportunities-India can afford to spend on environment friendly
procedures since another component of cost namely labor is still
cheaper. It will also help India have a healthier environment and
avoid Bhopals in future.
Threats-The Developed countries that have developed the technology
for safer environment oriented processes can prove to be a big
threat to India, till India catches up.
5.Trade & Labor
India and many other countries have been consistently opposing the
linkage since there is another UN body, ILO for the purpose.
However, it remains an issue.
Strengths -Labor laws in India are very progressive and in addition
to protecting labor rights, it also offers safeguards to the
employers. The cost of living in India is cheap and this again
reflects on the wages paid. This definitely is strength to compete
internationally.
Weakness-Proper raining facilities are still lacking in India.
Also, a vast majority of the population is in the village that
subsists on low wages. Social unrest due to such continued neglect
of the majority is real threat.
Opportunities-As has been evidenced by the Software sector,
excellent quality coupled with low wages can help India in many
areas.
Threats-Countries like China and the Last Developed economies can
offer cheaper labor. At that juncture, quality will be the
answer.
6.Trade & Investment
Investment and Trade are interrelated especially in technology
driven ones. It has resulted in a lot of disagreement among member
nations.
Strengths -India has a huge market for Goods and Services that
remain to be tapped. It also has a growing middle class and the
real income of the villagers is slated to grow exponentially. These
are great strengths for the nation.
Weakness-Comparison with countries like China deters investment in
India. For high technology products wherein others hold patents,
India has to depend on imports.
Opportunities-By liberalizing investment norms(which has been done
to a large extent already) India is capable of attracting FDI in
all sectors. This again will result in employment generation and
reduction of poverty.
Threats-The decision making process, steeped in red tape is a
real threat to investment. This will have to be tackled
politically. Internationally, India offers good investment
opportunities and it has to have tight regulations to ward off
another East India Company experience. India cannot afford to
forget the historical fact that the British and many others who
came to trade, ended up as the rulers.
7.Regional Trade Agreements& Plurilaterals
In the age of Multilateralism represented by WTO, RTAs are a
misfit. But increasingly nations are joining trade blocks.
Strengths -India as on now is member of only one arrangement with
Sri Lanka. It is not a member of any other RTA. This offers a big
bargaining ground at the WTO against others who are.
Weakness-The very fact that the country is not a member of any RTA
can limit its trade as increasingly members trade with members of
the RTA wherein they are members. India is also geographically a
distinct identity that has made it aloof.
Opportunities-By being not a member of any block, India can bargain
for better terms at the WTO.
Threats-The RTAs, by undermining the WTO system eat into the
opportunities otherwise available to ndia.
8.Dispute Resolution
WTO has well-established Dispute Resolution Mechanism in place.
India has to utilize the opportunities.
Strengths India has a higher pool of educated, trained manpower
especially Chartered Accountants, Lawyers and Technologists. This
can be an advantage for India in presenting disputes.
Weakness-India has not yet put in place a mechanism to make
awareness of WTO issues widely known and understood. The country
being large, this needs special effort.
Opportunities-The bodies like ICAI, Bar Council and others can
offer Training facilities along with the Training division of the
WTO. This can open up new vistas for professionals like CAs.
Threats-The highly trained professionals from developed nations
offer threats, but only in the short run.
What is the World Trade Organization (WTO? When was the WTO created and how is it related to the GATT? Roughly how many countries are members of the WTO and what are the broad issues related to agriculture that are being debated in WTO negotiations? Why does the world need organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO)? In other words, what is the role of the World Trade Organization?
what is the value creation models of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the aspects of Global business environment ?
The World Trade Organization (WTO) can best be described as: 1. an organization that competes with GATT for world trade leadership 2. a trade agreement covering the wealthy industrialized nations of the world 3. a multilateral organization that serves as a negotiating and dispute resolution framework for world trade 4. an organization that provides development aid to poor countries 5. a series of regional trading arrangements including NAFTA and the European Union
Using World Trade Organization (WTO) Articles give a clear explanation of the following: What are the function of the WTO? What are the objectives of the WTO? What are the objectives of the trade policy review mechanism? APA 6 Standard must be used. Question 3 Why are members so hesitant to resort to decision making by voting? Explain the Role of ‘consensus’, ‘voting’, and the ‘green room’ process
The most controversial provisions created by the World Trade Organization (WTO) are those associated with trade in goods (GATT). trade in services (GATS). trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS). none of the above.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) was built on the basis of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and, thus, inherited many of its features. Still, the WTO proved to be a very distinct institution. Indicate whether each property in the following table is a unique property of the WTO compared to GATT. Property Unique Property of WTO Yes No Acts as a membership organization Enforces dispute settlements Reduces national sovereignty Oversees tariff cuts and reduction of nontariff measures...
The tiny island nation of Seychelles joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in April 2015. Upon being admitted to the WTO, member nations may have had to change their treatment of imports from and exports to the Seychelles to treat that nation as well as any other member nation. This is called: a. best treatment status. b. friendly neighbor trader status. c. normal trade relations status. d. most friendly commercial status.
A. Analyse the existence of WTO-World Trade Organization for development of Middle East nations. [1000 – 1200 words] - 4 Marks. pleas avoid plagarism use your own words pleas dont copy and paste pleas, and write 1000 word
The World Trade Organization (WTO) allows formation of regional trade agreements only if member countries share border. a. The main reason that most developed countries provide subsidy to their agricultural and high-tech sectors is to promote exports of these products. b. Anti-dumping and countervailing duties are imposed to bring import prices to normal price levels in an importing country that suspects dumping and subsidy, respectively. c. The net welfare effects of an import tariff and export tariff may be positive...
hellp pleaaaaaasssseeeeeeeeee
One of the roles of the World Trade Organization is to act as the policeman for international trade agreements. When one country feels aggrieved by the actions of another, it is often to the World Trade Organization that they turn for redress. One such example is the case that the US has bought against China in regard to the restrictions that China placed on imported films, music, and books. China remains one of the least profitable markets for...