Views on internationaltrade and global economic governance in a changing world were exchanged at the2020 International Forum on Imports on Friday, the third of its kind organizedby the East China University of Science and Technology School of Businessduring the China International Import Expo.
The world faced newchallenges and opportunities and there was a need to establish new cooperationin international trade, said Wu Baijun, vice president of the university.
“The East ChinaUniversity of Science and Technology has been organizing the annual forum as wewish to promote academic exchanges and cooperation in international trade andmake it an important platform for discussion on global economic development.”
Yonov Frederick Agah,deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, said in a video speechthat international trade is important in promoting economic growth indeveloping countries by expanding consumers’ choices, creating jobs, andpromoting technology development and cultural integration.
But he said the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic had severely stricken industrial chains around the world withenterprises trapped in difficult situations and trade in some countries halted,leading to global economic recession.
He said the WTO shouldgive full play to multilateral trading systems to promote multilateralcooperation, which is helpful in enabling developing countries to get advancedtechnologies, such as pandemic prevention and control solutions and vaccines,and promoting the digital economy and e-commerce all over the world to helpenterprises in developing countries.
Also in a video speech,Pamela Coke-Hamilton, director-general of the International Trade Center of theUnited Nations, said the pandemic had brought unprecedented challenges andglobal GDP is expected to decrease by 4.8 percent this year from last year,with global merchandise trade volume down over 9 percent and services tradedown over 23 percent.
She said the pandemichad severely hit manufacturing and tourism, especially small and microbusinesses, and both imports and exports were seriously affected.
Against such a backdrop,keeping the market open is extremely important, she said, praising the ChinaInternational Import Expo a major measure to keep the Chinese market open andpromote trade.
She said the worldneeds high-quality trade, instead of large-scale trade, to promote sustainabledevelopment and inclusiveness.
原文链接: https://www.shine.cn/news/metro/2011069232/
