HAS INTERNATIONAL TRADE REACHED A DEADLOCK?

Interview with Pascal Lamy

RISK OF A GREEN PROTECTIONISM

Some technical regulations may really be intended to protect domestic markets

We are witnessing is a complexification of the game

ASEAN, ASEAN+3, Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

the proliferation of global production chains

Import content of exports has risen from 20% to 40% in 20 years

Juxtaposition of different regulations The real challenge is protecting consumers

RISING POWER OF BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENTS

Multilateralism is favored because of stability and transparency

We have about 400 bilateral agreements today anything that goes towards reducing tariffs is heading in the right direction to open up trade on a preferential basis, breach regulatory preferences

RELEVANCE OF DOHA ROUND

Ricardo's comparative advantages, Schumpeter's creation/destruction

The impact of trade liberalization is considered to be a political issue, and attempts are made to balance the loss

Three phenomena: the violence of economic shocks suffered

during destruction phases

2) the sheer number of players involved 3) the political limits that possible

concessions are faced with political limits are even more sensitive in a context of crisis

EU is the only example of a customs union which has been granted negotiating ability

Discussions in parallel, conducted between field players

Discussions carried out by govt with civil society -- NGOs [non-governmental organizations], trade unions, producer organizations

The issues they address, the interests embodied by non-state actors, are not absent from the debate

FAIR REPRESENTATION OF RELEVANT INTERESTS

The first reason is technical, or more precisely, it stems from the technicality of the issues discussed

This technicality poses the problem of regulation capture by special interests.

The second reason is, in this game, the Losing parties know precisely why they lose

and are able to form coalitions to support their causes, while the winning parties are often unaware they won

PROTEST AGAINST THE EUROPEAN CARBON TAX PROPOSAL

From WTO's point of view, there is no objection, in principle, to the establishment of a carbon tax

Whether the tools put in place comply with the rules

Four chief tools: regulation, subsidies, taxes and permits

Each of these approaches can be tested in terms of WTO agreements

EXCHANGE RATE REGIME

WTO,Geneva is about trade, and Washington (IMF Headquarters) is about exchange rates.

Exchange rate fluctuations have a short-term impact on exchanges

An undervalued currency will promote exports, there are more and more imports contained within exports

China benefited from an unfair competitive advantage by undervaluing its currency, this advantage was only temporary

HOW FORCES THAT DRIVE THE MOBILE INDUSTRY'S GROWTH

The telecom industry is rapid evolving, shaped by the evolution of technology and light-speed innovation. It is also an industry that is constantly redefining itself.

ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF THE INDIAN TELECOM INDUSTRY

The Indian telecom industry has come a long way since its liberalisation era. The industry has witnessed exponential growth especially in the wireless segment in the last few years. The plethora of telecom services evolved over the years, ranging from basic telephony to voice, video and data services, Wimax, WLAN and VPN, and bandwidth on demand to virtual private networks have catalysed revolutionary changes in the business operations for the service sector.

ISSUES FACED BY THE INDUSTRY

Rapidly Falling ARPU Lack of Telecom Infrastructure Rural Areas Continue to Remain Under

Penetrated Excessive Competition Price War Between the Service Providers

Putting Pressure on Margins Spectrum Allocation Regulatory Charges Lower Broadband Penetration

OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE INDUSTRY

Rural Telephony – Connecting the Real India 3G Services – Potential Growth Driver Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave

Access (WiMAX) – Reaching the Last Mile Mobile Value Added Service (MVAS) – An

Opportunity to Increase the ARPU Infrastructure Sharing – A Profitable

Proposition Managed Service – Outsourcing in Telecom

MOBILE WIMAX

Sprint claims that Xohm's typical speeds will be in the 2Mbit/sec. to 4Mbit/sec. range.

It has said its WiMax offering will be priced similarly to DSL and cable access,

NFC

NFC or Near Field Communication is a short range high frequency wireless communication technology.

A radio communication is established by touching the two phones or keeping them in a proximity of a few centimeters.

USE OF NFC

NFC applications can be split into the following three basic categories:

Touch and Go Touch and Confirm Touch and Connect

TOUCH AND CONFIRM

Applications such as mobile payment where the user has to confirm the interaction by entering a password or just accepting the transaction.

TOUCH AND GO

Applications such as access control or transport/event ticketing, where the user needs only to bring the device storing the ticket or access code close to the reader. Example for picking up an Internet URL from a smart label on a poster

TOUCH AND CONNECT

Linking two NFC-enabled devices to enable peer to peer transfer of data such as downloading music, exchanging images or synchronizing address books.

FIVE MAIN FORCES SHAPE THE FUTURE OF TELECOMS

Mobile Money Machine to Machine Cloud offerings Over The Top (OTT) players LTE