Agreed by more than 100 WTO members, the agreement sets binding rules requiring governments to consider the legality and sustainability of the fishing activities they subsidize.

In 2024 and 2025, inflation is expected to gradually abate, allowing real incomes to grow again in advanced economies, boosting consumption of manufactured goods. “A recovery of demand for tradable goods in 2024 is already evident. This is related to an increase in household consumption linked to improved income prospects.,"...

The WTO's 2024 report on global trade looked at the role that commerce has played to narrow the gap between economies since its creation in 1995. "Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the report is its reaffirmation of trade's transformative role in reducing poverty and creating shared prosperity," WTO Director-General Ngozi...

Geneva, Switzerland -- The World Trade Organization said Wednesday that global trade should rebound this year from an unexpected slump in 2023, but warned that regional conflicts, geopolitical tensions and economic policy uncertainty risked darkening the picture. In its annual trade forecast, the WTO disclosed that world trade volumes unexpectedly declined...

The WTO -- the only international body dealing with the rules of trade between nations -- is under pressure to secure some wins at MC13 to prove its relevance. Its 12th ministerial conference in Geneva in 2022 was hailed as a landmark success following deals on fisheries and a commitment...

ABU DHABI, UAE – World trade ministers were locked in disagreement Thursday on fisheries subsidies, agriculture and digital customs duties as a major WTO conference was extended beyond its scheduled deadline. With no signs of a breakthrough at the World Trade Organization's 13th ministerial conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi, officials pushed...

In January, Israel's cabinet approved an additional 55 billion shekels ($15 billion) to meet the cost of the war, while the mobilization of reservists and the displacement of communities on the borders with Gaza and Lebanon have disrupted the economy. Confronted with the conflict, Arab countries that have normalized relations...

The set of rules will streamline authorization requirements and ease procedural hurdles faced by businesses, according to a press release. It will help reduce the costs of global services trade by more than $119 billion every year, it added.

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- Ministers representing 123 World Trade Organisation (WTO) members have finalized the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement, according to a statement by the WTO. The ministers also issued a submission asking for the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13), taking place in Abu Dhabi on 26th-29th February,...

Speaking on the first day of MC13, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala highlighted a need to "reform the multilateral trading system" and boost international cooperation. "Looking around, uncertainty and instability are everywhere," the WTO chief said, adding that the world is in an "even tougher place today" compared to two years...

"There's considerable work to be done to establish a level playing field where low-energy technologies can be freely traded. I believe the WTO will be instrumental in this arena as well," adds Tavio. underscoring that the unimpeded trade of clean technologies is essential for achieving climate goals.

The World Trade Organization's 13th ministerial conference (MC13), scheduled to run until Thursday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is the first in two years. The WTO is hoping for progress, particularly on fishing, agriculture and electronic commerce.

ABU DHABI, UAE - The director general of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Sunday launched a $50 million fund to help female entrepreneurs in developing countries to export more using the opportunities offered by the digital economy. The announcement came ahead of the 13th ministerial conference of the WTO...

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The Abu Dhabi Session of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization (PCWTO) was inaugurated Sunday by Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC). The conference was organized by the FNC in cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the European Parliament (EP),...

ABU DHABI, UAE – Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan has announced that the UAE will provide a US$10 million grant to support key initiatives of the World Trade Organization (WTO), whose 13th Ministerial Conference is being held here. Sheikh Abdullah said that the grant...

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. told WAM that many global private-sector investors are currently focused on the 'China+1' model, pairing China with another country like Vietnam, Indonesia, or India. "We have no problems with that. But we are saying there is also China plus Morocco, China plus Brazil. There are many...

ABU DHABI, UAE - Madrid wants the upcoming 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) here next month to address the potential challenges of de-globalization and its impacts on global supply chains, Minister of State for Trade of Spain Xiana Mendez said. “The main challenges we may...

The head of the international trade body said weaker global economic growth, "worsening geopolitical tensions, the new disruptions we see in the Red Sea, on the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal" meant "we are less optimistic". She was speaking to journalists at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort...

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND -  The head of the World Trade Organization's fisheries talks voiced optimism  on Tuesday about striking an agreement on limiting subsidies blamed for overcapacity and overfishing. The 164 WTO members kicked off a month of negotiations this week at the global trade body's headquarters in Geneva. Iceland's ambassador Einar...

“Trade has always been important to the UAE, a bridge connecting our products, skills, and natural resources to the world, infusing our economy with its latest ideas and innovations. As underlined by the ‘We The UAE 2031’ vision, trade is now a cornerstone of our economic development and diversification ambitions,"...

With Suez Canal's pivotal role in global commerce, any disruption may send shockwaves through markets worldwide, challenging the resilience of international supply chains.

"While the world has abundant funds, there's a need for innovative strategies to channel them into vital sectors like sustainable development, renewable energy, and the blue economy," she adds while sharing her optimism for the World Investment Forum (WIF) in Abu Dhabi, scheduled between October 16 and 20, 2023.

Geneva, Switzerland - Global trade growth will be sharply lower than forecast this year as stubborn inflation, high interest rates and the war in Ukraine pressure economies around the globe, the World Trade Organization said on Thursday. Strains in China's vast property market also prompted the WTO to cut its trade...

Abu Dhabi, UAE - A UAE delegation led by Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, visited Belgium, aiming to strengthen economic ties and promoting investment opportunities with Brussels and the wider European Union (EU). The delegation discussed growing trade relations with Vladis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner...

Launched by the World Economic Forum, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the World Bank Group, the scheme aims to help participating countries, including least-developed countries, to use trade to meet their climate targets.

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - The World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank Group (WBG) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Thursday launched an initiative to help developing economies meet their climate change mitigation and adaptation goals through trade. The initiative Action on Climate and Trade (ACT) . which starts with...

The World Trade Organization said 2023 global trade growth would be slightly better than feared, but would remain "subpar", weighed down by the Ukraine war and stubbornly high inflation. Presenting their annual trade forecast, WTO economists said they expected to see the volume of global merchandise trade slow to 1.7...

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - The WTO’s annual Public Forum 2023 will focus this year on how trade can contribute to a greener, more sustainable future. The Forum will examine in particular how the services sector, digitalization and inclusive trade policies can support global environmental goals and help combat the climate crisis....

Last week, Lagarde said that more interest rate hikes might be needed in the eurozone after the half percentage point hike it has already signaled will come later this month.

The EU summit was to also examine the situation, and consequences in Europe, of Russia's war in Ukraine, which European Council President Charles Michel said was at "the heart of our concerns".

The 13-nation OPEC cartel headed by Riyadh and its 10 allies led by Moscow agreed to reduce output by two million barrels per day from November at a meeting in Vienna, the group said in a statement. It is the biggest cut since the height of the Covid pandemic in...

Presenting a revision of their annual trade forecast, WTO economists said they expected the volume of global merchandise trade to grow 3.5 percent this year, which is slightly higher than their expectations in April. But they forecast it would grow by only one percent in 2023 -- dramatically down from...

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Russia's war in Ukraine, the climate crisis, food price and energy shocks plus the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic were creating the conditions for a world recession.

The UAE attaches great importance to developing the intellectual property (IP) system and encouraging innovators and creators and the country has made significant progress in this regard by developing a legislative structure for this vital sector and promulgating a number of laws that will help build innovation capabilities and promote...

The World Trade Organization's ministerial conference will run over into a fifth day on Thursday in the hope of striking thus-far elusive deals on fishing subsidies, food security and combating Covid-19. The Geneva gathering of trade ministers "will go on for a fifth day until Thursday", the WTO announced on...

The WTO is hoping to keep criticism of Russia's war in Ukraine to the first day of talks, when many of the more than 100 ministers due to attend are expected to issue blistering statements.

Major international organizations issued an appeal on Wednesday for urgent measures to deal with rising food insecurity in poor countries.

Russia's invasion created a crisis of 'immense proportions' and a 'severe blow' to the global economy. Russia's war in Ukraine could almost halve world trade growth this year and drag down global GDP growth too, the World Trade Organization (WTO) projected Monday. The WTO said that the Russian invasion dealt...

The deal with members including the US, EU, and Saudi Arabia agreeing to new ways to help businesses.

Washington hailed Thursday's deal in a statement, saying it would "improve the transparency and fairness of processes for obtaining authorisations to provide services by professionals and firms in a wide array of fields." US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said “this initiative is the first successful WTO services negotiation in years,...

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 has led to travel restrictions, which has forced the WTO to postpone the ministerial conference in Geneva. The WTO hoped the four-day gathering would breathe new life into the organization, which has been stuck for years trying to make progress on resolving issues like fishery...

Supply-side issues such as semiconductor scarcity and port backlogs may strain supply chains and weigh on trade in particular areas, but they are unlikely to have large impacts on global aggregates. The biggest downside risks come from the pandemic itself.

The sectors in the country that attracted the most foreign investment were banking, basic items, energy, and communications.

The UN leaders released a joint statement in which they condemned what they called the ‘crisis of vaccine inequity,’ among countries.

Saudi Arabia is Abu Dhabi's biggest trading partner at AED 44.43 billion Abu Dhabi Customs accomplished more than 1,093,144 digital customs transactions during 2020 Abu Dhabi's non-oil foreign trade through the emirate's customs ports was more than AED 201.2 billion ($54b) during the past year, a top Abu Dhabi customs...

  The WTO has received a petition signed by over 2.7 million people from around the world calling for universal access to affordable Covid-19 vaccines The vaccines are expected to bring back some semblance of the pre-pandemic normalcy, which in turn may improve the global economy The World Trade Organization...