DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 22 -- The World Economic Forum(WEF) and International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development Friday released a sweeping set of proposed reforms to international trade and investment rules and institutions.
Themed Strengthening the Global Trade and Investment System in the 21st Century, the report was crafted by 375 leading experts from 15 Expert Groups (E15), aiming to fill void left by failure to reach Doha Round agreement.
According to a WEF statement, the new report outlines a pathway for better aligning and eventually reintegrating the world's"spaghetti bowl" of regional free trade and investment agreements, as well as for adapting rules and institutions to recent changes in the world economy, such as global value chains, the digital economy, services, climate change, Sustainable Development Goals, etc.
Meanwhile, the report also proposes a series of structural improvements to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The new proposals came on the heels of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Nairobi in December 2015, where governments failed to reach agreement on a continuation of the Doha Round of trade negotiations in its current configuration, effectively suspending a process that had been deadlocked for over a decade.
"The E15 proposals respond to changes in the global trade and investment system and provide concrete principles and measures to ensure that governance in this area advances sustainable development," said Ricardo Melendez-Ortiz, Chief Executive Officer of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development.
The process will continue in 2016-2017 in a worldwide dialogue on the implications of this blueprint on how trade strategy is set and administered in countries, as well as globally, including how improvements in international cooperative architecture could help, WEF's statement said.
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