This forum seeks to promote an informed debate on the topic of the World Trade Report 2013. Documents posted on the forum are the sole responsibility of their authors. They have no legal effect on the rights and obligations of WTO members, nor do they imply any judgement on the part of the WTO Secretariat regarding the consistency of any policy with the provisions of the WTO agreements.
  

See also:
> World Trade Report 2012
> Discussion forum: World Trade Report 2012

International trade affects individuals in every country of the world in one way or another. Your thoughts on the future of world trade will assist us in developing a first outline of the 2013 World Trade Report. You are invited to submit short articles (of no more than 1,000 words) on this topic and to submit your views on the articles submitted by others. We will post a more elaborate outline of the Report in this discussion forum in November.

Background

International trade is the transmission belt that links global production and consumption. This implies that trade is principally driven by the supply potential of countries, the demand for traded goods and services as well as geographical and policy-driven “frictions”, which determine the transmission belt's efficiency. But what factors will determine how these fundamental driving forces of world trade develop over the next decades? And are these developments likely to reinforce, moderate or reverse currently observed trends, such as the increased fragmentation of production, the rising importance of trade in services or the continued growth in trade between developing countries? In other words, to what extent will the volume, composition, geography and nature of trade, as we know it today, change over the coming decades, and why?

Submission of articles

Please send your articles to wtr2013@wto.org

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