Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 12 • Number 40 • 26th November 2008
Resources
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE ASEAN-CHINA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT ON THE GREATER MEKONG SUB-REGION. International Institute for Sustainable Development, November 2008. Using the free trade agreement concluded between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2004 as an example, this study seeks to illustrate the interaction between FTAs, trade and the environment. Based on an analysis of the agreement’s impacts on trade flows between China and its five trading partners in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand), the paper examines the likely effects of these changes on pollution levels. A case study of Cambodia elaborates on other environmental issues arising from increases in agricultural production and natural resource exploitation. To access this paper, please refer to: http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=1017
THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN LATIN AMERICA. Latin America Trade Network, November 2008. In this paper, Kevin P. Gallagher analyses the implications of the global financial crisis for investment in Latin America. Foreign Direct Investment into Latin America and the Caribbean increased sevenfold between 1993 and 2007. In the wake of the global financial crisis, this trend is bound to reverse. Rather than viewing the inevitable downturn in foreign investment as a major threat, the crisis should be seen as an opportunity to revamp Latin America’s ability to capture more of the benefits of FDI when it returns. Despite the incredibly increasing amounts of FDI in the region over the past 15 years, there was a very limited contribution of the surges in FDI to the broader economy. A core part of necessary fiscal stimuli to combat the financial crisis should be to enhance the domestic capabilities of Latin American nations to absorb the benefits of foreign investment. That way the region will be able to reap the benefits of foreign investment when it recovers. To access this resource, please refer to: http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/Gallagher_LATN_Nov08.pdf
Sustainable Development and China: Recommendations for the Forestry, Cotton and E-products Sectors. International Institute for Sustainable Development, November 2008. This report summarises the results of the first phase of IISD’s Global Markets Project, provides an overview of the social and environmental impacts associated with the Chinese forestry, cotton and e-product supply chains, and offers a corresponding set of recommendations to the Chinese government as it moves towards its objective of attaining HeXieSheHui (”harmonious society”). The report’s conclusions suggest a series of concrete actions available to the Chinese government as it seeks to leverage the forces of the market as a vehicle for stimulating sustainable production, consumption and trade. Click here http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2008/china_sd_sum.pdf to download the report.
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